


Accelerando

by Cantabo



Series: Crescendo [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, Castiel doesn't want to deal with this shit, Humor, I love Tippy you guys don't even know, M/M, Mild Injuries, Some Explicit Language, The angels make the most dysfunctional family ever, mentions of abandonment, mild social anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-16 13:14:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2271042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cantabo/pseuds/Cantabo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Castiel and Gabriel begged their aunt and uncle to attend public school for their senior year, Castiel had assumed they would fly below the radar, maybe attend a few social events, and more than anything, get out of the house for more than a trip to the grocery store or Emergency-Room visit.</p>
<p>Castiel is quickly discovering this year will be nothing like he imagined, seeing as he failed to account for one very important factor: the Winchester brothers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>  <b> Note (Jan 2017): This fic is being rewritten and will be posted again under a different name. <b></b></b></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have taken some liberties with age differences and family ties. Sam is 2 years younger than Dean, instead of 4. So Sam is a sophomore and Dean is a Senior. For story purposes Gabriel and Castiel are twins.
> 
> Gabriel is 18 and Sam is 16. I didn't mark the story as 'Underage' however, because there are no explicit details about their relationship.
> 
> The story is currently rated 'Teen' because of mild language. 
> 
> This story wasn't read over by anyone, so all grammatical errors were made by me, if you see one, please let me know. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have taken some liberties with age differences and family ties. Sam is 2 years younger than Dean, instead of 4. So Sam is a sophomore and Dean is a Senior. For story purposes Gabriel and Castiel are twins.
> 
> Gabriel is 18 and Sam is 16. I didn't mark the story as 'Underage' however, because there are no explicit details about their relationship.
> 
> The story is currently rated 'Teen' because of mild language.
> 
> This story wasn't read over by anyone, so all grammatical errors were made by me. If you see one, please let me know. :)
> 
> EDIT (3/15/2016): I am editing small things like grammar in this fic, so there will be minor changes to the original, but no changes to the actual plot (maybe a few extra jokes, bc why not?). Just making sure this reads smooth (my spring break is so boring I'm editing. God help me).

Castiel Novak is not a selfish person; he doesn't need much to get by on, but right now, Castiel would give anything to sink into the ground and die.

Castiel and Gabriel are currently staring up at the sign that points in at least 10 different directions and is labeled confusing things such as ‘Fine Arts building’ and ‘Career Technology building’ and ‘Attendance office’. Castiel has never been so lost in his life, including the time that Luke 'forgot' him at Target.

When he and Gabriel begged their aunt and uncle to attend public school their senior year, Castiel had assumed they would fly below the radar, maybe attend a few social events, and more than anything, get out of the house for more than a trip to the grocery store or another Emergency-Room visit.

Castiel is quickly discovering this year will be nothing like he imagined. Gabriel is looking around, mouth watering in excitement and anticipation, while those same feelings sit in Castiel’s gut like lead.

“Okay, Cas, let’s go register. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into that sophomore with the nice ass,” Gabriel was addressing Castiel, but his eyes were following said sophomore, who appeared to be at least 8 inches taller than Gabriel and subtly running away from a girl with braces and a mad look in her eyes.

Castiel sighed and dragged Gabriel by the sleeve to the attendance office, narrowly avoiding a small, blonde girl who looked like she was half asleep. She was carry a large bag of animal crackers for a reason that was lost on Castiel.

Public school is weird.

This was going to be a very long day indeed.

_*_*_

Castiel tries not to panic when he and Gabriel compare schedules. They have lunch together, and AP Chemistry, but other than that, their schedules are very different. Castiel had promised Naomi and Zachariah that he would keep Gabriel on as much of a leash as possible.

Castiel is in all Advanced Placement classes, aside from math, which he has an abundance of credits in. Castiel decided to save himself a migraine and avoid calculus this year.

Gabriel has classes that make Castiel want to rub his forehead in worry and take another Xanax. Half of Gabriel’s classes involve either dangerous chemicals or things that heat up to an alarming temperature. The distress in Castiel’s stomach when he sees classes such as “Art sculpting” and “Home Ec. baking” are enough to give him a stomach ulcer, much less what horrifying images flash through his head when he thinks about Chemistry.  The horrors that Gabriel can do in the range of an oven or kiln are enough to make Satan himself shudder in fear, the horrors he can do in a room full of harmful chemicals could make Jesus weep.

“Well, I’ll see you later little bro, I’m going to evoke fear in the hearts of my fellow classmates,” He said this with a wide, bright smile on his face and the most terrifying twinkle in his eyes. The ulcer that was rapidly forming in Castiel’s stomach gave a lurch in despair. Castiel doesn't understand why Gabriel feels the need to call him 'little brother,' seeing as how Castiel is 8 minutes older than Gabriel.

Sighing, Castiel decided the best course of action was to pretend he didn't know who Gabriel was.

_*_*_

The Study Hall supervisor is a very confounding woman. She dresses like she will be meeting a very important person, but she acts as though the students in front of her are the very bane of her existence.

She told him to call her Ruby, and that if he called her ‘Ms. Cortese’ he would be giving her pedicures for the rest of the year. Castiel nodded hastily and took the first empty seat he saw.

He stared at a particularly boring section of the wall until the bell rang, and then shifted his attention to counting the dots in the ceiling tiles. He was on the dot #137 when the desk next to him moved, meaning someone has taken the seat.

Castiel made the mistake of turning to see who it was.

The boy next to him must have been sculpted by God himself. He had a defined jaw and his skin seemed to glow in the morning sunlight. He had short hair that Castiel wants to run his fingers though. His bright green eyes lit up as he laughed about something with the girl behind him.

Castiel snapped to attention when Ruby asked his if his name was Castiel. He nodded and she gave him a thumbs up. She continued calling attendance, and when she reached the last name, ‘Dean Winchester,’ the boy next to him raised his hand. Castiel thought his name fit him very well.

He made eye contact with the girl behind Dean, which happened to be the same girl with the animal crackers from this morning. She was currently dipping her animal crackers into a large coffee cup and smirking at him. Castiel felt himself flush red, and he turned away, putting his attention on Ruby, who was playing a movie that had far too much killing in it for Castiel’s taste.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dean check his phone, and then flush bright red. Castiel found this entirely too adorable and decided the best course of action was to do something to occupy his time, so he took out his book in hopes of distracting himself.

Castiel read for the rest of the period, never mind if it happened to be the same page over and over again.

_*_*_

The rest of the morning was incredibly dull, and Castiel read through most of his classes, green eyes in the back of his mind the entire time. At lunch he met up with Gabriel, who was eyeing the same sophomore from this morning. They made their way to a table near the edge of the cafeteria, by the doors that led to the tables outside. The outdoor tables were mostly vacant, considering it was the middle of September and still extremely hot out.

“So how was your morning, little bro? Mine was great, I have that yummy sophomore for Statistics, turns out he’s a little genius, I mean like, my level of genius,” Gabriel enthused.

Castiel has been cursed with the knowledge that he will never stop flickering between jealousy and admiration for Gabriel’s intelligence. Gabriel has the intelligence to already have graduated from college, but his laziness has kept him from doing really anything. Castiel has had to work very hard to make the same grades as Gabriel, while Gabriel could roll out of bed, hung-over, and make perfect scores on any test. It both irritated and awed Castiel to no end.

“I mean just look at him, sure he dresses like he lives in Tractor Supply Co., but he’s just so delicious! I’d love a bite of that,” Gabriel had no sense of subtly, his hands wildly gesturing and pointing to the table where the sophomore in question sat. Castiel finally turned to glance over where Gabriel was blatantly pointing, and saw that the sophomore was sitting at a table with several people surrounding him. They were all glaring at Castiel’s table, but thankfully their glares seemed to be directed to Gabriel.

Scanning the people at the table, Castiel’s stomach gave a lurch when he saw the boy, Dean, from his Study Hall glaring with the rest of the table. There was also a boy with a mullet, and 3 girls, the blonde one with the Animal Crackers, a red-head and a girl with black hair. None of them looked particularly fond of Castiel’s brother at the moment, except for the girl with black hair, who was trying to hold back a smirk.

Castiel blushed and put his head in his hands, embarrassed at Gabriel’s blatant lack of aware that they were trying to burn him with their eyes.

Castiel spent the rest of lunch staring out the window, picking at his sandwich, ‘hmm’ing and ‘ah’ing at the right moments to assure Gabriel he was at least half-listening to his story of what obscene cake he made in Home Ec. Baking today.

After lunch, Castiel made his way across campus with Gabriel, who insisted they take a quick detour to his locker so that he could get a candy bar, despite the fact they _literally_ just had lunch.

Chemistry was mostly boring, but the poor sophomore that Gabriel had apparently made a target for his misguided affections was in the same class. Castiel looked at him sympathetically and mouthed an ‘ _I’m sorry’_ to him, which made the boy laugh a little and nod.

“Hey, you’re not allowed to make him smile! That’s my job!” Gabriel protested, shoving him out of the way to give the sophomore a positively terrifying smile, which made Gabriel eerily resemble a lion stalking his prey.

Castiel put his head onto his desk and kept it there for the rest of the period.

_*_*_

The walk to and from school is looking to be Castiel’s favorite point of the day. He enjoys feeling the sun on his skin, despite the fact that he is kept inside most of the time. Castiel and Gabriel have an unspoken agreement to take as long as possible to get home. It’s not that they have a bad home life, it’s just very complicated.

There are 5 of them.

Michael is the eldest, already 23, but is taking his college classes in Religious Studies online to help Naomi and Zachariah with his siblings. Luke is the second oldest, and at 21, has absolutely no desire to do anything beyond cause misery and aggravate Michael and Zachariah. Anna is the middle child, and at 19, is clawing at the walls of the house they live in, desperate for freedom that Naomi will not give her. Castiel and Gabriel are twins, and the youngest, and while Gabriel has a certain flair for pyrotechnics and candy, Castiel is good at making himself scarce when things get tense, and is the least targeted as a result.

When Castiel and Gabriel were born, their mother had birth complications, and even with over 6 hours of surgery, did not pull through. Their father, distraught with grief, grew very distant, leaving his children at their Aunt Naomi and Uncle Zachariah’s for several weeks at a time. After a while, with their stays at their Aunt and Uncle’s house growing longer and longer, their father stopped coming back for them, simply calling Michael and making up excuse and excuse as to why his business trip had been extended. While each child has one by one given up hope that their Father will ever return, Michael has kept his faith that their father will one day return to take them home.

Castiel cannot decide whether Michael is foolish for being hopeful or if he is simply gifted with more faith than the rest of his siblings.

Castiel is also not sure whether one choice is even better than the other.

_*_*_

Opening the door to Naomi and Zachariah’s is always slightly terrifying, because you never know what mood the occupants of the house will be in.

When Castiel and Gabriel walk in, they are greeted with silence. Not the type of silence that means the house is empty and that they are alone, but the type of silence that means the house is very much occupied and also very much pissed.

Castiel could see Naomi in the kitchen from the front door, angrily chopping vegetables with a very large knife, each slam of the knife onto the cutting board echoing down the hall like slammed doors.

Castiel and Gabriel share a terrified look, and then begin shoving each other out of the way to get up the stairs before the other. Castiel wins, but only because of a very tactful move that involves his elbow and Gabriel’s stomach. Gabriel lets loose a quiet string of extremely creative curses, and Castiel has to bite his lip to keep from laughing. They make their way down the hall to where Castiel, Gabriel, and Anna’s rooms are.

Anna’s door is shut and locked, which Castiel discovers when he tries the knob. Gabriel shrugs and goes to his room. Castiel follows, only pausing briefly to set his backpack down in own room.

Gabriel’s room is surprisingly tidy. Most would assume that there would be candy bar wrappers everywhere, and various stacks of pornography, but because Naomi is so nosy, Gabriel meticulously hides his porn. His candy is also hidden, but mostly because if it’s not Luke will wander in and eat it all out of boredom or spite.

“So I’m going to bet 5 dollars that Anna wore something that showed too much shoulder, and Naomi blew up. Then Luke sided with Anna to make Michael mad, which worked, and thus the Apocalypse ensued,” Gabriel said, digging his wallet out of his pocket to lay a $5 bill on the bed. Castiel did the same and laid a $5 bill of his own on top of Gabriel’s.

“I don’t think so. Luke would never get out of bed for such a common, petty argument. I believe Anna asked to go somewhere, and Naomi declined her request, then Luke attempted to sneak her out, and was caught by Michael, who then told Zachariah. Now I’m assuming that everyone is pouting for different reasons,” Castiel said, sitting down on Gabriel’s bed and fishing a candy bar out from where it was wedged between his mattress and the wall. Gabriel made a shocked face, to which Castiel gave a look, which made Gabriel shrug as he pulled out a candy bar of his own from literally _nowhere._

“You’re probably right. Hey, that’s the first thing you've said today!” Gabriel said, leaning in to fake check Castiel’s temperature. Castiel swatted his hand away and shot Gabriel the finger, which made Gabriel snort.

“That is not true. I also asked where the bathroom was in third period.”

“Oh yes, like _that_ really counts as socializing,” Gabriel rolled his eyes and took a bite of his candy bar, making obscene noises that most likely echoed down the hallway.

“Please don’t do that. I don’t want Michael to come in and ask about our day,” Castiel said, wincing.

“You’re right, that would be terrible,” Gabriel agreed, finishing his candy bar and throwing it in the trashcan next to his bed.

Castiel laughed and settled in on Gabriel’s bed, fully intending to hide here until the rest of the house ended their petty fighting.

It turned out Gabriel won the bet.

_*_*_

The next week of school goes very similar to the first day they had. Gabriel continues to make lewd comments about the sophomore, whose name they find out is Sam, and that he’s Dean’s younger brother, and really, life could not screw Castiel over more if it tried.

School remains very dull, and Castiel begins to realize just how ahead he and Gabriel actually are. Their classes bore them, which isn’t bad for Castiel, it gives him time to re-read the entire Harry Potter series, notice how good Dean looks in leather, and sharpen his Sudoku skills.

Gabriel, however, has spent his new found free-time very differently.

In the last week, the fire department has been called, there has been a chemical spill in the Chemistry hall, Gabriel decided that the best course of action was to deviate from the lab instructions and made a gas that smelled like rotten eggs and mold (resulting in every student of Castiel’s Chemistry class having to test out the Chemical Shower first-hand), and there have been three separate lectures over topics such as lab safety, fire safety, and classroom etiquette. There has also been a very questionable assembly involving three police officers and a recent ex-convict.

Castiel is beginning to think that his forehead will have indentions from how much he’s been hitting his head on his desk the last week. He also needs to remind Naomi to get a refill on his Xanax, which should say a lot about Castiel's stress level. Gabriel, on the other hand, has never been happier.

It’s near the end of September before anything really changes from the pattern of Castiel being bored in his classes and stopping Gabriel from being charged with a misdemeanor.

It starts on a Thursday in Chemistry. The teacher, Mr. Crowley, begins class by getting everyone’s attention. This is very different because he usually shows a slideshow or video and then gives them a lab. Crowley hates his job almost as much as Ruby, it seems.

“Alright ingrates, so we’re going to be starting our first out-of-school lab. I've assigned you all partners randomly, except you, Gabriel. By order of the school district you’re not allowed to work in a group, it seems you've labeled yourself as a liability. Congratulations.”

Gabriel shrugged, smiling the entire time. Sam, who had been assigned the seat on the other side of Castiel, visibly sighed in relief.

“I've posted your partners on the bulletin board, please come collect your lab guidelines and requirements, draw a topic out of the bowl, and get to planning with your partner. I will give you two planning days, and the rest of your work will be done outside of class. Your report is due Wednesday, if you can’t get it done in 6 days, don’t take Advanced Placement courses. If you don’t get it done, I wish you luck passing.” Crowley said, and then sat down behind his desk and started typing on his computer.

Castiel got up from his seat and walked over to the bulletin board, waiting until the crowd of students disappeared, and felt his stomach drop when he saw his partner.

**Castiel Novak – Sam Winchester**

_Well, this should definitely be uncomfortable beyond belief._

Gabriel is going to die. Castiel might join him.

Castiel goes and gets the instructions, and draws a random topic out of the bowl, then goes to sit next to Sam, who has his phone out and appears to be furiously texting. Castiel sits down and waits for Sam to finish texting. After about 2 minutes, he puts his phone away, despite the fact that it keeps buzzing from his backpack.

Sam gives him a small smile and Castiel hands him the materials.

“I think Crowley is slacking, I did this project last year. The experiment itself takes like 20 minutes if you know which chemicals to use. The lab report itself won’t be too hard either, just time consuming. We could get everything done in one night if we tried hard enough,” Castiel explains, pointing to various things on the guidelines and showing him their topic.

“This is awesome, I was worried we were going to get some crazy topic, knowing Crowley,” Sam said, chuckling. Castiel laughed and agreed.

They worked out some rough guidelines and made a list of what materials they would need.

“Hey, um, is there any way we could do this at your house? My Dad is away this week, he doesn't like company when he’s not home,” Sam said, eyes not meeting Castiel’s.

Castiel hesitated, not knowing what to say. He didn't entirely believe Sam’s excuse, but figures if Sam felt that he needed to lie, it was best not to push it.

On one hand, Naomi and Zachariah will be attending a religious conference this weekend, so Michael will be in charge. Castiel knows that Michael will allow Sam over if it’s for school reasons, but on the other hand, Castiel also knows that Luke, Michael, Anna and Gabriel will be under the same roof while Naomi and Zachariah are away, which means at least two Emergency-Room visits and a fight that ends with broken windows and a black eye.

“Sam, I have to warn you… My family, they’re very…" How can Castiel even begin to explain his family? "I can’t even begin to explain my family. Gabriel isn't the worst one by far, he’s simply the most creative. If you think you can handle three more, be my guest,” Castiel said, pulling his phone out of his pocket to send Michael a text message and ask for permission.

Sam simply stared at him, and when Castiel looked up, Sam looked to be in deep contemplation. Castiel could see it now, Sam’s choice between failing the class or being in a house full of worse-than-Gabriel’s for several hours.

“Could my brother come too? No offence to your family or anything, but he really doesn't like the way your brother looks at me,” Sam said, turning a surprising shade of red and looking down. Castiel’s stomach gave a lurch, the thought of Dean Winchester in his house gave Castiel very creative thoughts, and simultaneously filled him with horror at the thought of what his siblings might do to him. Dean seemed like the type to be able to hold his own, but Luke was also the type to put questionable substances in people’s food when they’re not looking and then lock all the bathroom doors and wait for the inevitable with popcorn.

“I don’t mind, he’s welcome over,” Castiel said, shrugging. Gabriel leaned over to lock eyes with Sam, wink, and lick his lips suggestively. Sam’s eyes grew wide and Castiel sighed. “For the record, your brother is not alone on that perspective.” Sam turned to look at Castiel and chuckled.

_*_*_

The next day in Study Hall, life decides to be an even bigger pain in Castiel's ass. Ruby was showing a Spanish Soap Opera, but she fell asleep halfway through it, so the students were talking quietly amongst themselves.

“Hey.”

Castiel looked up from his book, surprised to find that he was the one being addressed. Castiel is even more surprised to see who addressed him.

Dean Winchester is the epitome of perfection, wearing a light brown Henley and worn jeans, looking soft and welcoming. The part of Castiel that hangs out with Gabriel and Anna too much wants to climb him like a tree. The sensible part of Castiel wants to sink into the floor.

Castiel looks around, confused as to why Dean is talking to him, and when he sees that all the other desks around him are filled with sleeping students or are empty, he turns back to Dean with a confused look.

“Hey…”

“Look, I know we haven’t talked before, but I talked to my brother last night,” Dean said, and Castiel nodded in understanding. “It’s cool if I come too right? I‘ll help you guys out and everything, I know you told him it was okay I went, but he has those big puppy dog eyes that are so damn hard to turn down. I don’t want to go where I’m not welcome,” Dean said, fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt, not meeting Castiel’s eyes.

“I can assure you I do not mind. I am however worried you and your brother don’t understand what you’re getting into,” Castiel said, putting his bookmark in his book and turning to face Dean.

Dean looked back to the blonde girl behind him, Castiel learned that her name is Jo last week. Jo’s head is pillowed on her arms, and she is snoring softly. He turned back to Castiel, confused.

“What do you mean?” Dean asked.

Castiel sighed and ran a hand through his hair, noticing Dean’s eyes following his hand. How does Castiel even begin to explain his family? Much less to someone he’d very much like not to scare off.

“My family is very… different,” Castiel settles on, dreading the direction of this conversation more than he’d care to admit. Where is his Xanax when he needs it? Anxiety is flooding through his veins, threatening to suffocate him slowly.

“Different how?” Dean asked, leaning forward slightly, looking genuinely interested in the crap-storm that is Castiel’s life.

“I’ll phrase it like this: most families go to the hospital about once every 2 years, and that’s pushing it. My family is there about once a month... if we’re lucky,” Castiel explains, wincing at some of the more vivid memories from his childhood.

Dean’s eyes widen, and to Castiel’s surprise, he laughs a little.

“Seriously? You guys break each other’s bones for fun or something?”

The sad part of this conversation is that there have been many instances when that very thing has happened. Most of them were Luke’s fault, the rest can be divided between Anna and Gabriel, and even one for Michael.

“Something like that. Our Aunt and Uncle are fairly strict, and my siblings all found different ways of dealing with that.” Castiel said, deciding that the vaguest truth he could manage was the best answer.

Dean nodded, and Castiel figured the conversation was done, so he reached for his book. He almost jumped in shock when Dean kept talking to him.

“So… what are you reading?” Dean asked, playing with the sleeve of his shirt again.

Castiel flipped to the cover of his book, it was well-read and the book itself had seen a fair amount of wear, but the words _The Kite Runner_ were still clearly visible.

“I've heard about that book a lot, is it any good?” Dean asked. Castiel didn't know why Dean was interested in Castiel’s book, no one has ever cared about what Castiel read before except Zachariah, who made sure Castiel read scripture at least once a week. Everyone was usually too occupied with fighting or not noticing Castiel.

“It’s very well written, and there is an interesting plot, but I don’t like the book itself. There are parts that are just very hard to read, and I find myself hating the protagonist quite a bit. I think he’s very cowardly,” Castiel said.

“If you hate the main character, why read it?” Dean asked, laughing.

“Because, it’s not about the characters or things like that, you should read because books have something to teach you, and each one of them is its own world,” Castiel said, blushing at the cliché of his words.

Dean must have missed Castiel’s word vomit, because he was looking at Castiel very intensely. His gaze made Castiel squirm, and he ran his fingers through his hair, which was getting just a little too long and beginning to touch his neck, which irritated Castiel to no end.

“I’ve never thought about it like that before,” Dean said, after a pause that felt like it contained a millennium inside of it.

“Most people don’t. I suppose there are other valuable ways to spend ones time though,” Castiel said.

“Yeah, my friend Charlie and I get together once a week and watch Science Fiction shows. It’s great,” Dean smiled when he said this, as if he was reliving all their good times. Castiel felt jealousy course through his veins like venom and hated himself for feeling jealous of someone he didn't know.

“Yes, that does sound fun,” Castiel said, hoping that the smile plastered on his face was convincing.

“Charlie is great, you’d love her. Hey, why don’t you sit with us at lunch? We have room,” Dean said. Castiel spent several seconds making sure he hadn’t just gone momentarily stupid, and blinked at Dean curiously, tilting his head slightly.

“That is very kind of you, but I don’t think that it would be wise to bring Gabriel near your brother. Sam seems to be the unfortunate victim of Gabriel’s misguided affections,” Castiel hoped that Dean would understand that if Gabriel wasn't Castiel’s brother, he would accept the invitation in a heartbeat.

“I mean, we could put Gabriel far away from him, and sometimes Sam sits with his geeky debate club friends. If you want to, just some sit down, we’re not that scary. Jo’s just mean in the mornings, by 11 she’s mostly human,” Dean said, snickering slightly.

Castiel smiled, “I’ll talk to Gabriel about it, thank you.”

The bell rang just then, cutting off the conversation. Dean smiled at him and walked out, leaving Castiel stunned, still sitting in his desk.

Jo leaned forward and patted him on the arm, slurring sleepily, “He’d really like it if you sat with us. Just so you know,” She said, giving an exaggerated wink and shuffling out of the classroom.

Castiel had no words as he gathered his things and went to his next class.

_*_*_

“Are you shitting me? Why are we still sitting here? Let’s get our sexy asses over there and make friends!”

Gabriel had taken the news that Castiel got invited to Dean’s table about how Castiel had expected.

“Gabriel, you can’t sit near Sam, or he won’t sit with us. That’s what Dean said,” Castiel said, grabbing Gabriel by his sleeve and dragging him back from where he was trying to run in Sam’s direction.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, and sat back down to face Castiel.

“Cas, believe it or not, but I actually do want to make some friends. I know you’re perfectly comfortable with just our family, but the whole reason I wanted to come here was to have what we've always been deprived of: normal things. Do you realize up until this point in our lives we’ve never hung out with anyone outside of our family? Don’t you think that’s, I don’t know, _weird_?” Gabriel said, and Castiel saw a rare moment of the true Gabriel, underneath layers of self-deprecating humor and mischief.

Castiel remembers when he and Gabriel were younger, and they used to lay outside late at night and talk about how they would run away to New York when they turned eighteen, get their own place and make a life for themselves. Gabriel wasn’t so mischievous then, more content to sit back and watch things happen than to partake in events himself.

Castiel sighed, understanding what Gabriel meant. “If you can control yourself around Sam, then we’ll go. But if you can’t, they won’t ask us to sit with them again,” Castiel tried one last time, even though he knew his words were going in one ear and out the other.

Gabriel was up and gone before Castiel had even gathered his books. He made his way over to where Dean and his friend were sitting, seeing that Gabriel had already made himself comfortable among Dean’s friends, and they were laughing at something Gabriel had said.

“Hey, Cas! There’s a seat over here,” Gabriel said, pointing to the last seat at the table, right between him and Dean.

All Castiel can think is: _Gabriel, you’re doing this on purpose. Where is my Xanax?_

“Hey, Cas,” Dean smiled, and Castiel felt his heart stutter as he smiled back and sat down, feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

“So, Gabe, what happened next?” The girl with black hair asked, leaning forward in interest.

“That’s Pamela, she knows everything because she’s not human,” Dean whispered quietly to Castiel. Pamela gave Dean a deathly glare, which he returned with a dazzling smile.

“…well, it turns out that in Luke’s brilliance, he hadn't accounted for the fact that Castiel only sleeps about 4 hours a night, and always gets a snack around 3 A.M., so when Castiel wanders in for his midnight snack, he trips over the rope, and the next thing we know, there’s this ear piercing noise, and then the most creative swearing that  _I've_ ever heard, and when we get downstairs Cas is sprawled out on the floor, crying, and holding his hands over his ears! He just kept screaming ‘DID YOU HEAR THAT? PLEASE TELL ME YOU HEARD THAT!”

The whole table is laughing at this point in Gabriel’s story, except for Castiel, who is rapidly turning red. This is one of Gabriel’s favorite stories to tell about Castiel.

“It took us 30 minutes to calm him down, it was the funniest thing, but then after we realized that Cas wasn't joking, he really couldn't hear anything, we took him to the Emergency-Room. That was hilarious too, he kept yelling at the nurses and he didn't even realize it! You could hear him all the way down the hall,” Gabriel gives Castiel a huge smile, which Castiel returns with an unkind finger and a glare, which only makes the table laugh harder.

“Man, that’s hilarious!” Sam exclaims, and Castiel is surprised to see that he decided to stay at the table, much less laughing at one embarrassing story of Castiel.

“No joke, but that wasn't even that bad, Castiel gets the least shit from our family because he’s so good at hiding when they fight. You should hear about some of worse things we've done, they’re terrifying,” Gabriel says, and he sounds partly proud, partly ashamed, which is a fairly accurate description about how the Novak’s feel about each other.

“Come on then, let’s hear a story about one of the worse times!” This is the first time he’s heard the red-headed girl speak, and she’s currently wearing a shirt that says _Peace out, bitches_.

“That’s Charlie,” Dean says in his ear again. Castiel wishes Dean would stop whispering in his ear, public erections are extremely embarrassing.

“Hmm, that’s a tough one. Cas, what do you think? The prank war from May of last year or the time Michael tried to get us up for the early service at church?” Gabriel turned to Castiel, along with the rest of the table.

Castiel sat in contemplation for several seconds, trying to weigh in on which situation was actually worse.

“I’d rather we didn't tell either,” Castiel says after a while.

“That is an excellent choice, Cas, I think I will tell the Early Service Story,” Gabriel says, cracking his knuckles and leaning in as Castiel groans. The rest of the table subconsciously leans in as well, all too interested in the horror that is the Novak family.

“Okay, so our Aunt and Uncle are both pastors, and as a result they’re gone all of Sunday at the church, and its Michael’s job to get everyone dressed and there by 11 to make it to a service. However, this one particular Sunday our church combined the services to make one large service at 8 A.M., which is much too early for our family to even be alive, much less at church,” Gabriel says, hands gesturing wildly to accompany his story.

Castiel sighs with the memory of this story, remembering how no one would talk to each other for a month after the Early Service incident.

“So Michael’s not a morning person, he’s grumpy to the extreme. The only person who is worse in the mornings is Castiel, here. You can’t talk to him for about an hour after he wakes up or you risk getting punched in the face, seriously,” The entire table looks at Castiel when Gabriel says this. Castiel simply shrugs, looking down.

“So Michael wakes everyone up in the order of ‘People Least likely to kill Him'. He wakes up our sister Anna first, then me, and then Luke by pounding on our doors. So currently 4 of the 5 Novak’s are awake, which naturally means that Anna and I are tackling each other to get to the fridge for the last juice box, becausejuice, and Luke is nowhere to be found, which is more terrifying than when he’s nearby, and Michael’s starting to get that look in his eyes that reminds you of a mother of eight children who can’t seem to control any of them.

“It’s at this point that things take a sharp turn south. Michael goes to hunt down Luke, and Anna and I are starting the Rock Paper Scissors Death Match when we hear this loud crash from upstairs, which is pretty normal for us, but then all of a sudden there’s a shit-ton of screaming and things are being broken. Anna and I go upstairs and realize that the noise is coming from Luke’s room, which is never a good sign. So naturally, we go to see what they’re fighting about and when we walk in there’s _cages of rats,_ literally fucking _everywhere_ , there had to be at least 50 rats in his room!”

The whole table is silent at this point, and if Castiel wasn't so busy wincing at the memory of the particularly gruesome morning, he’d laugh at the expression on everyone’s face.

“ _Rats_?” Sam asks, the first one to break the silence.

“Yeah, rats. I know, gross. So this is the point where things get _even worse_ , because the screaming woke up Castiel, who comes stomping in like someone just tried to smother him in his sleep. He gets out about 5 words of a very terrifying threat, before he looks around, sees the rats, and just walks out. We all assumed he just went back to bed, so Michael and Luke started screaming at each other again. It turns out that Luke had been collecting the rats for about 3 months, and had managed to keep them all a secret up until that morning. Michael was not pleased by any means.

“So they've been fighting for about 20 minutes so far, shouting insults at each other until they’re blue in the face, when the doorbell rings. No one ever comes to our house, I don’t think we’d even heard the doorbell up until that point in our lives. So Michael goes to answer it, and it’s fucking _Animal Control_!” The table is still in shock at this point, but their faces have a hint of a smile, and Castiel can remember the rest of this story with glaring clarity.

“It turned out that Castiel had not gone back to sleep, but in fact had called Animal Control, then took two boxes of cookies out of my room, _stole my fucking juice,_ and hid himself so well it took us all 5 hours to find him. By that point in the day, everyone was so angry at each other that no one would speak to anyone. Our Aunt and Uncle still have no idea what happened to this day.”

There is a silence as the story sinks in to everyone at the table. Then everyone slowly turns to Castiel, who is beet-red and staring at a very interesting spot on the table.

“So… where did you go?” Dean asks after a few seconds. Castiel is still beet-red when he turns to look at Dean sheepishly.

“Oh, he went and slept in the fucking attic, behind all these boxes and Anna’s old dollhouse. He curled himself into this little ball, the first three times we passed by him we thought he was a pillow,” Gabriel says, and the table laughs, and Castiel really wishes that the ground would swallow him up.

Dean laughs and bumps Castiel with his shoulder, which shocks Castiel so much he almost falls out of his seat. Dean reaches out and steadies him, leaving his arm out so that it touches Castiel’s.

Gabriel spend the rest of lunch telling horror stories from their family, thankfully less embarrassing ones about Castiel, and Castiel spend the rest of lunch trying to think about anything but the arm pressed against his.

_*_*_

The rest of Castiel’s day at school goes better than lunch, thankfully. His day when school is over, however, is another story.

“Michael, we’re home from school! Come gimme a hug and ask me about my day!” Gabriel screams when he and Castiel walk through the front door.

“Michael and Luke are dropping Naomi and Zachariah off at the airport. They’ll be back in 20 minutes,” Anna’s voice echoed down the stair, and a moment later she appeared in flannel pajamas and slippers. “Hide whatever you don’t want Michael to find when he gets back, he told me he’s checking our rooms for explosives and other questionable objects.”

“Shit,” Gabriel whispered. He gives Castiel a panicked look and is dashing past Anna so fast up the stairs that she tumbles over.

Anna then proceeds to let loose a string of expletives so loud that Castiel is sure God himself is cringing. He sighs, put his backpack by the door, and moves to help her up.

“Why is Michael checking our rooms?” Castiel asks, pulling Anna up by her arms, so that she’s standing again.

“You have guests coming over, Michael feels it’s his duty to make sure that we don’t kill them accidentally or on purpose,” Anna says, motioning for Castiel to follow her into the kitchen.

Castiel nods, going to the fridge to get himself a glass of juice, and then to the cabinet to take some Advil. Castiel doesn't actually have a headache, but since Naomi and Zachariah will be away for three whole days, preparing for the inevitable headache and/or future bruises is probably a good idea.

“Yes, well, I will be in my room for the rest of the night. I have no desire to see what Michael has planned to keep Luke and Gabriel busy,” Castiel says, pushing past Anna to scurry up the stairs and into his room, locking the door behind him.

Castiel glances at the door for a minute, then decides that putting his desk chair under the knob would be a good idea.

The rest of Castiel’s Friday night is spent in bed, sipping juice and watching re-runs of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, because Luke changed his TV to only show E!, and then hid Castiel’s remote. It’s been 5 months and Castiel still has no idea how to change the channel to anything else.

Through his locked door he hears the fire alarm go off twice, several breaking noises, three separate instances where Michael’s lectures get so heated the whole house was treated to a listen, and one very girlish shriek that belonged to either Gabriel or Luke, or possibly both, Castiel couldn't tell.

Castiel drowns these noises out with celebrity trash TV and tries not to think about how bad tomorrow is going to go.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some notes: 
> 
> WARNING: This chapter contains a mild injury (at least mild for Supernatural...), hence the change in tags. Also, it contains my intense love of Firefly. Oops sorry...
> 
> I realize this chapter is shorter than the first, but I wanted to end the chapter where I did.

It’s not even 10:30 in the morning and one of them has already been to the Emergency-Room.

It happened like this:

Michael got up before everyone else to ensure there would be no morning accidents. Luke got up right after Michael to ensure there would be a morning accident. Anna got up 20 minutes after Luke and stepped over the puddle of the unidentified slippery substance that he had put at the top of the staircase, forgetting to mention to Michael that it was there. Gabriel got up at 9:00 and slipped in said puddle of substance, proceeding to tumble down the staircase with all the grace of a bag of bricks, breaking his arm in the process. Castiel slept through the whole thing, waking up to find a text from Michael, explaining what happened, and a plate of bacon burned beyond any stage of edibility, which Castiel ate anyway.

Castiel sat at the table, munching on the charred bacon, and decided that Sam and Dean coming over while the rest of the house was empty would be the safest bet for getting them inside the house uninjured. He sent Sam a text that if they could come over now, they were welcome, otherwise it might be better for them to come over in the afternoon.

Sam responded five minutes later saying: _We can be over in half an hour, is that okay?_

Castiel said that’s fine, knowing that the rest of the house would be gone until later today. Finishing the last of the charred bacon, Castiel put the plate in the sink and shuffled back upstairs to find clothes that were at least slightly better than boxers and an old T-shit Luke bought him for Christmas three years ago that read **‘Ask me about my last prostate exam!’** because Luke is a terrible brother, really.

Castiel found a pair of jeans and decided they would do, despite the fact that they were slightly too small. He unearthed a clean long sleeve shirt and pulled it over his head, sliding on his shoes and moving to clean his room up a little. After about 10 minutes Castiel gave up and shoved all his dirty clothes under his bed, too tired to do anything else with them.

Castiel made his way downstairs, grabbing the various things that Sam and him would need, and set everything up in the kitchen, where Castiel figured there were enough exits in the event Luke started a fire or Michael came in to chat. Castiel had just taken a Xanax, knowing today was going to be a test on his nerves, when there was a knock at the door.

Castiel’s stomach dropped to the ground, and he walked to the door slowly, where he could hear Sam and Dean arguing through the wood.

Much of it was too muffled to hear, but there were small parts Castiel did catch, such as “insisted on coming,” and “bitch,” and “jerk.” Castiel opened the door to see that Sam and Dean were in fact arguing, and that behind them was a large black car. They stopped fighting when they noticed Castiel there, and Sam smiled brightly at him. Dean gave a small smile, and Castiel stepped aside to let them in.

“Wow, you live in a really nice house,” Dean says as they walk in. Castiel shrugs and motions for them to follow him as he walks in the kitchen.

“I suppose so, I guess it’s more incredible that it’s still standing considering how often the fire department is called,” Castiel said shrugging as he got himself a glass of water. “Do either of you want anything to drink? We have water, Gabriel’s juice, Michael’s protein shakes, Luke’s beer, and iced tea.”

“Water is good for me, thanks,” Sam says, sitting down on a bar stool at the counter, Dean hesitantly takes a seat next to him, still looking around. “Where is your family? If you don’t mind me asking, from what you and Gabriel told us, I imagined more… screaming.”

“There at the hospital, Gabriel has broken his arm,” Castiel said indifferently, pulling the lab guidelines out of his Chemistry folder. When he looked up, both Sam and Dean were staring at him in shock.

“Seriously? I thought you were kidding about the hospital thing,” Dean said.

“Oh no, that’s why I told Sam that now would be a good time to come over, since they’ll be gone until at least 1:00. They are usually rather angry when they get home from the hospital, I didn't want you to come over in the middle of that,” Castiel said.

They both nodded, still looking a little shocked, like they hadn't believed Gabriel’s stories about their family.

Castiel has wished many times that the stories weren't true.

“Okay, so if we can finish the part of the lab that requires boiling water before anyone else gets here, the rest of our day will go a lot smoother,” Castiel says, pulling a large pot out of one of the nearby cabinets. Sam nods and comes to stand by Castiel, spiral notebook in hand, ready to take notes.

_*_*_

They did better on time than Castiel assumed they would, finishing the entire lab portion of their project before anyone got home. Sam and Castiel had just finished writing down the last of their calculations when the front door slammed. Several pairs of footsteps stomped their way up, and then four different doors slammed so loud it shook the walls throughout the house. Dean looked up from where he was playing on his phone and locked eyes with Castiel.

Castiel felt his stomach do somersaults, and gestured for him and Sam to be quiet, hoping that maybe no one would come to check on Castiel if they didn't hear anything.

Apparently, Castiel has bad luck, because five minutes later Gabriel and Anna walked into the kitchen with matching scowls. Gabriel brightened when he saw Sam and Dean, but Anna only stormed past everyone to get a beer out of the fridge.

“Annie-cakes, that’s Lucifer’s beer,” Gabriel said, eyeing the bottle in her hand wearily from across the kitchen, where he had just taken a seat at the counter on the other side of Sam.

“And?” Anna asked, popping the cap off and taking a large gulp of it. Dean’s eyes widened and he looked at Castiel, clearly confused. Castiel couldn’t do anything but watch the horror scene unfold before his eyes. “Don’t you think I deserve a drink today Gabe? After all we’ve been through?”

Gabriel’s eye twitched, and he gave Anna a large smile, but Castiel could see the fire in his eyes. Whatever was about to happen would not be good, by any means.

“I don’t recall you doing much of anything besides moaning and bitching today, Little Orphan Annie!” Gabriel said, throwing his hands up dramatically, arm looking rather ridiculous in its cast.

“You do realize we’re all technically orphans, right?” Anna asks, taking another sip of Luke’s beer.

“Maybe,” Gabriel concedes, and Castiel can see Sam and Dean turn to look at him in confusion, but Castiel can only shrug, eyes not leaving the potential 9-1-1 Phone Call unfolding in the middle of the kitchen. “However, I do know that once I tell Luke that you opened one of his beers, you’ll be a dead orphan. Would you like lilies or roses at your funeral?” Gabriel asks, sweetness about as authentic as the smile plastered on his face.

“You wouldn’t dare tell Luke,” Anna said, eyes narrowing.

“You really want to test me today? This is the third time in four years I’ve had my arm broken, I think all my cares flew out the window on the drive to the hospital today!” Gabriel said, increasing in volume.

“You’re such a brat, Gabby,” Anna said, and rolled her eyes.

Gabriel turned to Castiel, gave him a large smile, and then cupped his hand over his mouth and proceeded to make everything four million times worse.

“Lucifer! Someone’s been drinking your beer!” Gabriel sing-songed, and it echoed through the house like a gunshot. The silence that followed filled Castiel with pure terror; Anna and Gabriel were in the midst of having a very intense staring contest. Castiel looked at the door to the kitchen in fear, Sam and Dean continued to look around in confusion.

Castiel did the only thing he could think of and grabbed his notes, motion for Sam and Dean to follow him, and lead them out of the kitchen and into the living room. About ten seconds after they sat down on the couch, a slightly sleepy, partially naked, and extremely angry Luke stomped past them and into the kitchen.

That’s about the same time that the screaming started, and continued to remain at an ear piercingly loud volume of indistinguishable curses and insults until Michael came downstairs.

“Castiel, why is everyone shouting? It’s incredibly difficult to sleep through this,” Michael said, rubbing his temples in frustration and looking at the doorway to the kitchen wearily, like what was waiting for him inside might kill him.

“Anna drank Luke’s beer. Gabriel told Luke.”

“She did what? Lord in heaven give me strength…” Michael trailed off as he slumped into the kitchen, where the shouting only got even louder with the added noise of Michael attempting to quiet his siblings by trying to out-loud them.

This method has never worked particularly well for Michael.

“Let’s go to my room, they’ll be at this for at least another hour,” Castiel sighed, grabbing their things and motioning for them to follow him upstairs.

Safely in his room, Castiel locks the door behind him and sits down on the floor, pulling his laptop out from under his mattress, where he hides it from Luke and Gabriel.

“Why is your laptop under your mattress?” Sam asks, sitting down next to him and pulling his notebook in his lap.

“Because, last time I left it on my bed and walked out, I came back to find that Gabriel had been looking at some truly disturbing pornography and had given my computer a virus.”

“Geez, is your family always that… intense?” Dean asks, leaning back against Castiel’s dresser.

“Today is slightly worse than usual, but yes, they can be quite a lot to handle,” Castiel sighs, opening up a word document to begin writing his and Sam’s lab report.

Sam slid him his notes, and began pointing out certain details that Crowley requested for their project. Castiel was grateful that they seemed to be done talking about things that made him uncomfortable.

_*_*_

Several hours later, they had their lab report done, with a presentation of their findings and observations. Sam high-fived him and slumped onto the floor, grateful to be done working. Dean had fallen asleep on Castiel’s window seat, head leaning back to fall against the window. The sky looked heavy with rain, about to pour out the heavens onto them all.

Sam laid on the floor, arms over his head, while Castiel went to lay on his bed and try extremely hard not to fall asleep.

“If I never hear the word catalyst again, it will be too soon,” Sam says, words muffled by his arms.

“I agree very much Sam,” Castiel said, perfectly content to fall asleep at that moment, despite the fact that he still had his shoes on.

“Hey, Cas, is it okay if I ask you something?” Sam said, rolling on to his stomach to face Castiel. He nodded, turning his head to face Sam, trying to refrain from pointing out that Sam technically already did. Castiel needs to not spend his free time with Gabriel.

“What did your sister mean when she said you were orphans?” Sam asked, looking down at his hands.

Castiel sighed, running his hands through his hair. He hadn't really wanted to discuss his family history with Sam, or anyone for that matter.

“My mother died during complications from mine and Gabriel’s birth. Our father didn't handle her death well. He would leave us here for weeks at a time, and after a while, he just didn't come back,” Castiel said, staring at the ceiling.

Sam was silent for a very long time, and when Castiel looked over, he noticed that Dean had woken up, and was staring at Castiel. Castiel felt relief wash over him when he didn't see a trace of pity on Dean’s face, just understanding.

“Our mom died too, in a fire,” Sam said, staring at the ceiling.

Castiel didn't know what to say to that. He didn't think any words would begin to cover the way losing a parent feels, so he simply looked at Sam, and nodded, hoping that his condolences were understood.

_*_*_

Once the rain had started, it didn't let up. Castiel checked the weather, feeling foolish for not checking it earlier. Dean fell back asleep, and Castiel and Sam were playing slap-jack; Sam was currently beating Castiel. He blamed his losing streak on the handsome blonde snoozing in his room.

A particularly loud crack of thunder echoed through the room, making Sam jump and waking Dean.

“What- Sammy, what…Where’s the fire?” Dean mumbled, scrubbing his hands over his face and looking around until his eyes locked on Sam, when he visibly relaxed.

“Dean, it’s raining like crazy. Dad called and told you not to drive in this weather,” Sam said, putting another card down.

“I don’t mind if you stay here,” Castiel said, knowing that Luke will leave tonight no matter what the weather, Anna will go to bed early and Michael takes his night classes online, so the only possible way things could go bad is if Gabriel is in a particularly terrifying mood.

“Is that a good idea? I mean, with everything that’s happened today…” Dean trailed off, looking hard at the floor.

“The house clears out at night, which is why I usually go to bed so late. Luke leaves, Michael takes classes and Anna sleeps. Gabriel is not bad when they’re busy. I understand if you don’t want to, but the offer is open,” Castiel said, getting up to let Michael know of the possible change of plans. “I’ll let you two discuss.”

Making his way to Michael’s room gives Castiel a small amount of time to think of what the hell he’s doing. _Why can’t he control his mouth? Why did he offer to let the boy he has a huge crush on stay at his house? Why did he even let them in? He could have pretended that no one lived here. Damn it this is all Castiel’s fault._

Castiel passed by Gabriel’s door, which was shut, with music blaring through the wood at an alarming volume. Castiel decided to visit Gabriel on his way back. Moving down the hall, he reached Michael’s door, and knocked. A few moments later Michael opened the door, wearing sweatpants and his reading glasses, which always made Gabriel laugh so hard he got stomach pains, and is why Michael now does all his reading away from Gabriel.

“It’s raining too hard for Dean to drive home, can they stay here?” Castiel asks.

“I don’t mind, just make sure you don’t let Luke know that you have guests. You know how he gets,” Michael said, scratching the back of his neck as a shudder ran through Michael and Castiel simultaneously. Michael clapped him on the shoulder, and then shut his door, leaving Castiel alone in the hallway.

Turning back, Castiel found himself once again outside of Gabriel’s door. He gave the door a quick knock, and waited until he heard the music lower.

Gabriel poked his head out the door, and judging by his hair, it was clear that he had been sleeping up until recently. Gabriel was the type of person who could sleep through any sort of commotion, but could wake up to the sound of a whisper. It continues to confound Castiel to this day.

“Sam and Dean are staying through the weather, if you’d like to come watch a movie,” Castiel said, rocking back and forth on his heels. Gabriel nodded and closed his door, and the music returned at an even louder volume.

Shrugging, Castiel returned to his room.

_*_*_

“Oh, man! You have the entire series of Firefly?” Sam cried, holding up the battered DVD case after digging through the tub of movies and TV-shows that Gabriel had hauled into Castiel’s bedroom approximately 10 minutes ago.

“It’s only the best show to ever grace the television, before it was brutally ripped from my fingers and beheaded,” Gabriel said, muttering the last part as he crossed his arms over his chest like a petulant child. He sat down next to Sam on Castiel’s bed, where Sam consolingly put his arm around Gabriel, which made Dean raise an eyebrow.

Castiel rolled his eyes and grabbed the DVD from Sam’s hands, putting it in the CD player of his laptop. He closed his curtains and turned off the light.

“I am going to make some popcorn, would anyone like something else?” Castiel said.

“Candy,” Gabriel said, as Sam simultaneously said “I’m good.”

“I’ll give you a hand,” Dean said, getting up from Castiel’s window seat. Gabriel looked at Castiel and gave him a questioning look. Castiel gave a minute shrug and walked out, followed by Dean.

Their journey down to the kitchen was silent, and remained quiet as Castiel fished the popcorn bags out from behind a bag of apples, where Anna kept them hidden. Dean leaned against the counter, apparently deep in thought as Castiel put a bag of popcorn into the microwave. He stepped back and listened to the random pops, wondering why this day had turned out in such a strange way.

It wasn’t until Castiel put the second bag of popcorn into the microwave that Dean broke the fragile silence.

“Cas, your brother…” Dean trailed off. Castiel turned to face him with a look of question in his eyes.

“Nothing against him, he’s a lot different from who I thought he was. I can’t lie though, this thing between your brother and Sam, its freakin’ me out,” Dean said, looking at him as he played with the two black bracelets that decorated his tan wrist.

Castiel sighed, rubbing his hand on the bridge of his nose. The timer on the microwave beeped, but no one made a move to get the bag.

“Dean, I understand that Gabriel has misguided affections for your brother, but I assure you he would never do anything against Sam’s consent or-“

“That’s not what I mean, Cas,” Dean interrupts. “I mean that whatever your brother feels toward Sam, I’m starting to think that Sam is feeling the same way.”

Oh. Castiel had not thought about Sam perceiving Gabriel’s lewd flirting attempts as anything but childishly annoying. This is very much an unexpected outcome.

“I’m not saying anything against your brother,” Dean says, holding his hands up like he’s offended Castiel, “I’m just asking… Whatever is going on with them, is it something that’s going to end badly?”

Castiel considered this. He understands Dean’s worries, as Gabriel tends to eye Sam like he’s undressing him with his eyes and covering him in chocolate syrup in his mind. He understands Dean’s fear that Gabriel will hit it and proceed to quit it. He also knows that for all the trouble Gabriel likes to stir up, he has a loyalty streak larger than anyone else Castiel knows, and has more than once gone to extremes to protect Castiel from Zachariah or Michael.

“Dean, I can honestly say I have no idea what Gabriel is getting at. But whatever seems to be happening, are we sure it’s bad? I mean, Gabriel has his faults like everyone else, but he is a good person, under all the layers of Snickers, Girl Scout cookies and premature diabetes,” Castiel said, looking Dean in the eyes.

Dean held Castiel’s stare for a moment, before looking to the ground, deep in thought once more. Castiel gabbed both bags of popcorn, a handful of chocolate for Gabriel, and motioned for Dean to follow him back to his bedroom.

_*_*_

Back upstairs, Gabriel and Sam had made themselves comfortable in Castiel’s bed, and were already watching the first episode of Firefly. Gabriel was laying on the side of Castiel’s bed touching the wall, with his back resting against the headboard. Sam was laying down in Castiel’s bed, legs folded, with the computer screen resting in his lap.

“Took you long enough, Sam and I here almost died of starvation! We were about to start eating people!” Gabriel cried, shaking his cast at them petulantly as they began scooting over to allow Dean and Castiel room on Castiel’s bed. Gabriel scooted over as far as he could, sitting in a diagonal angle as Sam climbed over him and moved to lean against the wall, putting his legs in Gabriel's lap, which made everyone else raise an eyebrow that went unnoticed by Sam. Castiel sat next to Gabriel with his back against the headboard, and Dean sat next to Castiel, leaving a corner of the bed empty to put the computer and food.

“Alright, bitches, let’s get this marathon going!” Gabriel said, using his toe to hit play on the computer. Dean huffed out a laugh and shook his head.

Castiel smiled, feeling more at home in this house than he ever had before.

_*_*_

Several hours later, after many episodes of Firefly, a very colorful and entertaining commentary from Gabriel and Dean, who apparently has a secret love of the show, and a very intense game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who got more food (Dean lost, but Gabriel was voted off the island to get the food anyways), everyone had eventually drifted off to sleep.

Sam fell asleep slumped against Gabriel, who had simply fallen asleep sitting up halfway, holding onto one of Sam’s ankles. Dean had fallen asleep with one leg hanging off the bed unceremoniously, hands tucked under his arms and his chin bowed low to touch his chest. Castiel went to sleep last, making sure to turn the laptop off and put it under his pillow for safekeeping, and moving the food a safe distance away to avoid someone kicking it off his bed in the middle of the night. Castiel fell asleep on his side, arms pulled close to his chest, facing Gabriel, with his back pressed into Dean’s side.

In the middle of the night, when Dean woke up to a very uncomfortable pain in his neck, he looked down to find them in these positions. He looked at Castiel, whose face was so innocent as he slept, mouth parted slightly and hair even more disheveled than usual. Dean unconsciously brushed a hair out of Castiel’s face with the lightest touch of his fingers, smiling at the way Castiel huffed in his sleep, rubbing his face into the mattress. Dean laid down on the bed fully, and if he unconsciously curled up to Castiel a little, there was no one else awake to point it out.

Dean fell asleep the second time to a warmth in his chest that he hadn't felt in years.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love reading your comments, they mean so much to me, thank you for all your lovely and kind words, they mean more than you know! I love any feedback you guys have to offer me!
> 
> Any errors in this chapter are mine, as this was not read over by anyone else.
> 
> Notes about the chapter: I made up Castiel's birthday, but that is Dean's actual birthday (according to Supernaturalwiki). There is some swearing in this chapter, but I tried to keep it to a minimum!

Castiel, Gabriel and Sam woke up to the beautiful, shrill siren of the fire alarm bright and early on Sunday morning.

“Michael burned something again, just go back to bed,” Gabriel muttered, shoving his face into Castiel’s stomach. He appeared to have somehow migrated down the bed in the middle of the night to have his face mashed in Castiel’s stomach and his back against Sam’s chest.

“Gabriel, get off me,” Castiel huffed, pushing Gabriel off of him and onto Sam, who groaned and made swatting motions at no one in particular.

Castiel slid off of his bed, careful to avoid Dean, who was still somehow asleep through the continual screeching. He shuffled out of his room, grabbing some clean clothes on his way out and shutting the door behind him.

The hallway was empty, so Castiel went into the bathroom to change and make himself look slightly less-dead.

When Castiel walked out, however, Luke was in the hallway, glaring at the fire alarm that was mounted to the ceiling above his door as if it had caused him a great amount of pain (Michael had a fire alarm installed above his door after Luke found out that he could buy lighters at a gas station). Castiel was prepared to walk past him without saying a word, as per usual, until he noticed the baseball bat Luke's his hand. There are no words to describe the horror that Castiel felt in that moment.

There was no one else around, so if Luke did any harm with the bat, it would most likely end up being Castiel’s fault if he didn't intervene.

“Luke, why do you have a bat?” Castiel asked wearily.

“I need it to stop. Michael told me it wasn't his problem and then left to go grocery shopping. Anna told me to stick my Barbie’s up my ass and locked her door. If you help me stop the screeching I will spare you in my wrath of revenge. I need it to stop,” Luke said evenly, eyes never once leaving the fire alarm, which was currently screeching the same note over and over again at a volume that made Castiel want to slam his head into the wall.

Castiel sighed, rolled his eyes, and grabbed Luke’s bat, using the handle of it to hit the _reset_ button on the side. The screeching suddenly stopped, drowning the house in a silence that had Castiel’s ears ringing.

Luke looked at Castiel as if he had just saved his life. He grabbed Castiel and swept him up in a bone crushing hug that had Castiel saying his Hail Mary’s silently (Castiel is not Catholic). It was rare to be in such close contact with Luke without him secretly trying to set your clothing or hair on fire.

“Luke, all you need to do is not set things on fire,” Castiel sighed, leaving him to go back to glaring at the fire alarm, minus the bat, which Castiel decided to take with him for the safety and well-being of his family.

Slipping back into his room, he set the bat by the door, and looked to where Gabriel, Sam and Dean were sitting on his bed, all on their phones.

“How did you get the screeching to stop?” Gabriel asked, not looking up from what appeared to be a very intense game of Bejeweled.

“I showed Luke how to reset it, and took his bat. You’re welcome,” Castiel said, grabbing the food wrappers and trash from last night and putting them in the popcorn bags.

“He had a bat? I thought Naomi took all his weapons after he got arrested last year,” Gabriel said, finally putting his phone down. Sam and Dean looked at Castiel in shock.

“I thought so too, but it's Luke, so we’ll most likely have to go check his room for lighters again,” Castiel said, giving Gabriel the popcorn bags of trash and laying down on the floor.

Castiel is too tired to deal with this shit.

_*_*_

Sam and Dean left about an hour ago, after Dean got a call from their dad. They said thanks and offered to clean up, but Castiel told them it was fine, to go home and see their dad. Sam and Gabriel gave each other a hug before they left, which caused Dean and Castiel to lock eyes in confusion, eyebrows furrowed. Castiel shrugged and Dean shook his head.

Dean was right, apparently. Something was going on between Sam and Gabriel. Castiel couldn't decide whether it was something to worry about, yet. It’s too early to decide anything.

“Well, little bro, I say that we take a much deserved nap,” Gabriel said, popping Castiel on the shoulder so hard that he fell over slightly. Gabriel smirked and walked back upstairs, leaving Castiel to look around in confusion and exhaustion. Sighing, he walked into the kitchen, and began pouring himself a glass of juice.

Just as he leaned back on the counter to drink his juice in the blissful peace and quiet, Luke walked in, a large smile decorating his face.

“Why the smile, Luke?” Castiel asked, feeling his nerves rush up to clog his throat.

“Retribution, my dear brother,” Luke said simply. He walked past Castiel into the laundry room, where a loud crash echoed through the kitchen. Luke emerged a minute later carrying a bottle of bleach, a large wooden stick, and a bag of hamster food (when Anna was 15 she went through a phase where she wanted to raise hamsters. This lasted almost a week before Luke sold them online to an ‘animal sanctuary’).

“Luke, what are you going to do?” Castiel asked wearily, not actually sure if he wanted to know the answer.

“You shall see brother, you have been spared from the wrath of Lucifer,” Luke said, smiling viciously at Castiel.

“Luke, you enjoy that nickname far too much,” Castiel sighed, finishing the last of his juice and putting the glass in the sink.

When Castiel turned back to Luke, he was gone.

Today was going to be a nightmare, that much Castiel was sure of.

_*_*_

When Naomi and Zachariah arrived back home at 7 PM sharp, they opened the door to pure chaos.

This is what Castiel has gathered so far as to what happened: Apparently, Luke took the large wooden stick and jammed it in Michael’s sliding closet doors so that they wouldn't slide closed, which made Michael very frustrated. After having the entire household try to close the doors and fail to do so, Michael became so frustrated that he punched a hole in his bedroom wall. Luke then took the bleach and poured an undecipherable amount into every flower vase in Anna’s room (there are at least 12), and then scattered the hamster food all throughout her bedroom, leaving the window open to allow all of the creatures on God’s green earth to have a pass at the buffet Luke had made in her room. Apparently a poor sparrow drank from the bleach water in one of the vases, because Anna was currently holding it in a shoe box and sobbing.

Castiel hid from his family under the covers for an undetermined amount of time playing games on his cell phone, until Gabriel slipped inside of his bedroom and joined him in his fort of blankets.

“It’s a mad house out there, Naomi’s pitching a shit-fit to end all shit-fits. I’m going to resort to hiding with you,” Gabriel said, and curled up under the blanket more. Castiel rolled his eyes when he saw Gabriel has put on his moose pajamas. Believe it or not, Gabriel either sleeps in whatever he was wearing that day, or in flannel pajamas with a print made for young children.

“Has Luke terrorized you yet?” Castiel asked, turning his phone off to roll onto his back, arms numb from being in the same position so long.

“Mercifully, no. I’m going to assume this is payback for the fire-alarm this morning?”

“You would be assuming correctly,” Castiel sighed, running his hands through his hair.

Gabriel groaned, taking out his phone. He appeared to be texting someone, and when Castiel raised an eyebrow in question, Gabriel simply smirked.

Castiel rolled over, deciding that he could no longer handle today and would be unconscious for the rest of it.

_*_*_

The beginning of October brought cold weather, girls wearing fur boots that make Anna scowl and Luke catcall, and a very intense bible study regimen from Zachariah.

Castiel spends five hours a day in lessons after school with Zachariah, and by Wednesday he’s already exhausted. Castiel slumps into Study Hall that morning, collapsing in his desk, and he’s fairly sure that Dean and Jo are eyeing him as if he’s got a questionably contagious disease.

“Cas, I don’t mean this in a dickish way, but you look like shit, dude,” Dean said, waving his hand in front of Castiel’s face.

Castiel slowly looked at Dean, bags under his eyes looking an alarming shade of bruise. Dean rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers right in front of Castiel’s face, which Castiel reacted to about three seconds later, by jerking back violently until he hit the metal bar on the side of his desk.

“Ouch…” Castiel muttered, trying weakly to rub the spot on his back that would most likely have a bruise.

“Cas, what’s going on? Why are you so exhausted?” Jo asked, looking at Castiel over the top of her coffee cup, which was apparently glued to her face until every trace of caffeine disappeared from the cup.

“My uncle Zachariah has begun a new bible study, he’s got us working on it all the time,” Castiel said, eyes drooping with each word.

“Cas, I know this might sound like a crazy idea, but why don’t you just ask your uncle to cut back on the hours a little?” Dean asked, leaning in to steady Castiel with a hand to his shoulder, which shocked Castiel so much his body gave another jerk at the touch.

“The only reason Gabriel and I were allowed to come here is because we promised my uncle that we would keep up with our bible studies,” Castiel said, scrubbing a hand over his face and groaning.

Castiel let his eyes close once more, loving the darkness that his eyelids provided him. He was almost asleep when he heard Dean stand up next to him. Straining one eye open he saw Dean gathering his and Castiel’s backpacks.

“Dean, what are you-“

“Come on, follow me, this is ridiculous,” Dean said, motioning for Castiel to follow him.

“Ruby, Cas and I are going to the library,” Dean shouted as he marched out the door and Castiel shuffled after him.

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Ruby called back from her desk, where she was currently reading 50 Shades of Grey, as the door shut.

Dean grabbed the sleeve of Castiel’s shirt and dragged him through the hallways, going right past a security guard that waved at Dean and got a “Hey Benny!” in response. They walked past the English and history hallways, going right past the library and out of the school completely.

They were halfway towards the large black car that Castiel saw outside of his house this weekend when his brain finally caught up to what was happening.

“Dean, what are we doing?” Castiel said, telling his feet to _stop fucking going wherever the beautiful blonde boy leads you!_

“You’re a wreck, Cas, I can’t watch you like this. Besides, you said it yourself that you don’t do anything all day anyways. Gabriel will cover for you, just come with me, you need to relax,” Den said, and Castiel blames what happens next on the way that the sun fell onto Dean’s face, highlighting the sharp arch of his pink lips and every freckle placed on his face.

“Okay, Dean, lead the way.”

_*_*_

Castiel has no idea where they’re going at all. He feels a strange sense of déjà vu from every horror movie he’s seen.

“Dean, where are we going?” Castiel asked, for what seemed like the third time in a minute.

“We are going to get a real, American breakfast, Cas. You need bacon and coffee, the two things that make the world go ‘round,” Dean said, smiling wildly as he pulled into a small diner down the road.

Castiel looked at the sign that read _HAUS OF PANCAKE_ in large red letters on the door. Dean either noticed the look of skepticism on Castiel’s face, or he was well versed in defending the quite frankly terrible name of the restaurant, because he jumped to its defense.

“I know what you’re thinking. This place looks kinda weird on the outside, but I promise that you’ll never have better pancakes,” Dean says, taking the keys out of the ignition and getting out of the car. Castiel sits there for a beat longer, before he figured that he was already out of school and that nothing else could really get worse. He finally managed to pull himself out of the car and into step with Dean, who was hopping on his feet in excitement, hunger, or possibly both.

Ten minutes later they were sitting there, Dean sipping coffee and making noises that forced Castiel to drop his maroon hoodie into his lap. Castiel decided that iced tea would be better for him, since the last time he drank coffee it wound him up so much he decided it would be a great idea to street race Gabriel on his bike (that masterpiece of an idea landed Castiel and Gabriel in the Emergency Room with very questionable injuries).

Dean glanced at him and gave him a small smile, setting down his coffee and leaning forward on his elbows.

“Can I help you, Dean?” Castiel asked with a small smile on his face.

“I was just thinking that I don’t know all that much about you, Cas, I mean, you drag me all the way out here and I don't even know your middle name!” Den said, causing Castiel to roll his eyes good naturedly and set his drink down to nervously play with his sleeve.

“Well, I don’t know much about you, either, Dean.”

“That is true. Here, I’ll go first. My birthday is January 24th, Aquarius, I love Zeppelin, and I’ve always wanted to travel. I practically raised Sammy, I’d do anything for him. I’ve had all my shots and I play well with others,” Deans said, finishing that last part off with a wink.

Castiel laughed at him, unable to understand how today had turned out this way.

“What about you? You just showed up out of nowhere, your turn!” Dean declared, rubbing his hands together as the waitress set down a comically large stack of pancakes in front of Dean and a reasonable amount of pancakes in front of Castiel.

“Well,” Castiel started, then paused, not even sure what parts about him would even be considered interesting to another person. “I was born on December 4th, I like to help people, I enjoy classical music and jazz, and I am very good at hiding,” Castiel decided that he was a wholly uninteresting person in that moment.

Dean, for some unimaginable reason, seemed to disagree with Castiel’s decision.

“I figured you were good at hiding, but you don’t like classic rock? Cas, I don’t think I can allow this,” Dean said, shaking his head in mock disappointment as he shoveled a large amount of pancakes into his mouth.

“I do apologize, the closest thing to that in my house is Gabriel’s ridiculously large collection of college alternative music. Honestly, the only reason he listens to it is to drive Luke crazy. Luke seems to think songs without screaming are blasphemous and whatnot,” Castiel said, waving his hand in nonchalance as he took a bite of the admittedly amazing bacon.

“That is… interesting,” Dean chuckled.

Castiel laughed and agreed, and they finished off their breakfast in a similar fashion, trading mindless facts about themselves. Castiel made a mental note to get Dean a new pair of headphones since Sam seems to always steal his.

The waitress same by and gave the bill to Dean, who paid for it and refused to let Castiel help. Castiel huffed and rolled his eyes, but internally felt his stomach flip in happiness over that.

Dean and Castiel spent the next few hours driving around until they found a park devoid of screaming children. Castiel laid down on the grass, enjoying the quiet and peace, and Dean sat beside him, refusing to lay down and muttering something about how his hair would be grassy if he laid down.

Castiel rolled his eyes and watched the clouds go by, hoping that today would not be a one-time deal. He looked over at Dean, who was busy trying to make little people out of the weeds nearby. The bubble of affection Castiel felt as he watched Dean name his new found grass-people both excited and terrified Castiel.

_*_*_

Several hours later, after a smooth cover from Gabriel (he told Naomi and Zachariah that Castiel had been helping a classmate in Chemistry), a truly sinful and foul dinner (courtesy of Michael), a visit from the Fire Marshall to warn Luke about his newly found flair for pyrotechnics that seemed to have frightened several neighbors and small children, and a lengthy rant from Anna over the evolution of John Stamos’ hair, Castiel was safely tucked under the covers in his bed, playing a very rousing game on Solitaire on his cell phone.

His phone buzzed, making Castiel jump nearly a foot into the air, before exiting his game to read the text on his phone.

_Try 2 get sum sleep 2nite, unless u wanna catch a l8 bfast again tmrw;) –D_

If Castiel fell asleep that night with a smile on his face, it was no one’s business but his own.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I tried to make this chapter as light as possible because the next chapter is going to be all angsty and whatnot. 
> 
> Also, I totally lied about this being 3 or 4 chapters long. As I get into the story, I realize there's more I'd like to put into it, however I am at least halfway through this fic. It's not going to be super long, I don't have that much of an attention span... oops sorry.
> 
> WARNINGS: some language and more general ridiculousness that comes with everything I write.

By the end of October, Castiel and Gabriel (finally cast-free) had formed a hesitant bond with the occupants of Dean’s lunch table. Each one of them was extremely different, yet they all seemed to be able to get along for the entire lunch period with only minimal bloodshed and scarring.

There’s Ash, whose entire wardrobe consists of shirts with no sleeves and jeans being held together by _pure faith_ , and also has a full ride to MIT next fall. Pamela very much enjoys all things leather and making people uncomfortable. Charlie’s hair is extremely red, and she might actually know more about Star Trek than Gabriel, which is shocking (She also managed to hold an extremely terrifying conversation with him about the different organizations they had hacked into). Jo likes to wear insulting T-shirts and just be a general cause of havoc and fear around the school (needless to say, she also gets along with Gabriel).

Sam has become closer with Castiel, as they have classes together and end up partners quite a bit. Sam tells Castiel funny stories about Dean and the remarkably odd things they did growing up.

Then there’s Dean, who has only continued to captivate Castiel even more. Castiel blames his affection for Dean on the fact that Dean was carved out of magic and sunshine.

The strangest thing to happen, however, is the new bond between Sam and Gabriel. It started a few weeks ago, when Dean and Castiel noticed how Gabriel walked Sam to all his classes, began sitting next to each other at the lunch table, and even had their own inside jokes (all of which irked Dean to no end, as he now felt pushed to the side. Castiel's urges to cuddle him thankfully remain un-acted upon).

While they will admit to nothing, (no matter how much Pamela stares into their souls, Jo tries and fails to terrify them into talking, or Ash threatens to destroy their credit scores for the rest of their natural born lives), Castiel believes they will be good for each other, despite everyone’s hesitation and questioning.

Take what is currently happening as the perfect example.

Currently, Gabriel is explaining, in excruciating detail, everything that is wrong with the movie wrap-up of _Firefly_ to which Charlie is angrily shaking her head and trying to speak louder than him in its defense. Everyone else is merely a bystander as this interesting spectacle progresses. Sam is the only one who may not sustain moderate-to-severe neck injuries from the effort of trying to follow the heated conversation, as his eyes remain locked on Gabriel.

Castiel nudges Dean, and then motions for him to look at Sam and Gabriel. Gabriel is currently having a thumb war with Sam while still arguing with Charlie. Sam is leaning in towards Gabriel and nodding his head in agreement over Gabriel’s point of no real character progression, which even Castiel will admit should have been explored in the movie more than it was.

Dean gives Castiel a questioning look, to which Castiel returns with a shrug. Whatever seems to be happening between Gabriel and Sam, it appears to be happening without their brother’s knowledge.

_*_*_

“Hey, Cas! What are you doing for Halloween?” Dean asked, poking Castiel in the head with his pen as he caught up to Castiel in the hallway after the last bell of the day.

“Well, I’m not allowed to trick or treat, I don’t party or drink, and the only costume that Gabriel will let me wear is this awful Hamburglar costume, because he really wants to wear this Grimace suit he found on ebay, and he insists that he cannot wear the large purple monstrosity unless _someone_ is the Hamburglar,” Castiel said, shuddering at the thought of the awful purple suit Gabriel had gotten in the mail last week (it’s fuzzy, the color of grape juice, and smells like Cigarettes, Moth Balls, and Marijuana).

Dean gave Castiel an odd look for a minute, perhaps picturing Castiel in the ridiculous costume (Castiel had refused to put it on, no matter how much Gabriel threatened, begged, pleaded, bribed or cried, in that exact order). After a minute, he breezed past this, apparently choosing not to comment, which Castiel is immensely thankful for.

“Anyways,” Dean says, stuffing his hands in his pockets as they rounded the corner into another hallway, making their way slowly to the front of the school, “Pamela’s having this thing… She does it every year, it’s not big… We just get together and watch some old movies and junk. If you and Gabe want to come, we've got room, and you could even stay over… you know, if you guys want.”

Castiel ponders this, thinking about how he desperately wants to go, and how he knows that Naomi will say no.

“I will have to ask Naomi and Zachariah, but if they say yes we will most certainly be there,” Castiel said after a few seconds, hoping to every star, gaseous nebulae and deity he could think of in the sky that luck would help him when he asked Naomi and Zachariah tonight.

_*_*_

“You want to go out? On the day of _sin_? What if you boys run into troublesome gangs or hoodlums or rapists or serial killers?” Naomi said, running her hands through her auburn bangs like she always did when she worried too much.

Naomi likes to watch Dateline reruns in her free time, and has consequently developed some trust issues toward strangers.

“That’s exactly why we’ll be inside, Naomi!” Gabriel said, as if that magically solved every worry in Naomi’s mind (Spoiler alert: it didn't. But it was a truly valiant effort on Gabriel’s part, anyways).

“Gabriel, you know how Naomi and I feel about you two going outside on Halloween, it’s a day full of misguided children and razor blades and crazed lunatics,” Zachariah said, not looking up from the paperwork he was working on.

_Typical,_ Castiel thought, _Zachariah probably doesn't even know what’s going on right now._

“Naomi, we will be inside the whole time. The entire reason we were invited was to keep us off the streets. They’re going to make dinner and watch movies. It’s all old movies, nothing new and satanic and bloody,” Castiel interjects, hoping to get in a few words before Gabriel starts spouting out random facts and ideas at an alarming speed to try and confuse Naomi into saying yes.

"Also, if we're allowed to go, then that's two less people to distract you from watching Luke," Castiel threw in.

Naomi seemed to consider this, and glanced at Zachariah, who was so deep into his paperwork Castiel thought that he might actually overlook the Second Coming of the Messiah.

“Zachariah and I will discuss this and let you know tomorrow,” Naomi said. Castiel nodded and dragged Gabriel away before he could protest, hoping that showing some maturity would help sway their decision.

“Gabriel, they might actually say yes, but we need to be good until then, so that means not setting anything on fire. Do you think you can manage that?” Castiel asked.

The uncertainty on Gabriel’s face was not reassuring in the slightest.

_*_*_

Miraculously enough, Naomi and Zachariah agreed to let Castiel and Gabriel attend Pamela’s movie night, they were even permitted to stay the night, if only because keeping everyone as far away from Luke as possible on Halloween was safer for everybody.

So on Friday, after school, instead of going home like Gabriel and Castiel usually do, they grabbed their overnight bags out of their lockers and made their way to Dean’s car in the parking lot.

“So Cas, I need to tell you something,” Gabriel said as they sat down on the hot gravel of the parking lot, near the Impala. Sam and Dean

“If it has anything to do with law-breaking, fire, or blood, I don’t want to know.”

"No, that's not it," Gabriel said.

"You're not pregnant... are you?" Castiel joked.

“No, nothing like that! Well—no, never mind. What I meant to say was that Sam and I… kind of started a thing,” Gabriel said, playing with his fingers and decidedly not looking Castiel in the eye.

“When you say _thing_ … Are you referring to a relationship  _thing_ , or a selling-his-organs-on-Craig’s-List-and-leaving-Sam-in-a-bathtub-full-of-ice _thing_?” Castiel asked, not sure which option was worse.

“What? No! The first one! And only kind of! I mean, we hang out and stuff, but I don’t want to freak him out. All I’m saying is that Sam wanted to tell you and Dean, and I figured if you knew first you could stop Dean from ripping my eyes out of my skull and playing Ping-Pong with them,” Gabriel explained.

Castiel thought that this was a smart move on Gabriel’s part, but knew that he would not be able to hold off Dean if he acted upon such eye-ripping urges.

Whatever happened tonight, Castiel had a foreboding feeling whooshing around in his stomach that it would not be good.

_*_*_

Castiel’s instinct was 187% correct. This is what has transpired thus far:

Ash and Charlie hacked into the security system of a wealthy entrepreneur down the street and proceeded to set his alarm off every 5 minutes for 3 hours.

Pamela and Jo are having a battle to see who can scare someone the worst without _actually_ killing them (So far, Pamela has faked a suicide, a bomb scare, and made Gabriel pee his pants. Jo has yanked Castiel under the bed by his ankles, fake murdered Charlie, and given a surprisingly convincing performance as a demonically possessed victim).

Dean decided the best way to get the party started was to play _The Birds,_ which, while not actually considered a scary movie by modern standards, has made everyone considerably jumpy, and Gabriel has used this interesting fact as an excuse to make Crow noises every few seconds repeatedly and unashamed.

Sam has taken to staring someone in the eyes for much too long before giggling quietly and walking away smiling the world’s _creepiest motherfucking smile ever_.

Castiel takes this all in stride as he watches these events unfold form the safety of the sofa.

Somewhere between the fourth Alfred Hitchcock film Dean put on Pamela’s obscenely large television (Dean apparently likes movies that give Gabriel nightmares, as he just put in _Psycho)_ and Jo’s attempt at pretend self-decapitation, Dean sat down next to Castiel, whose eyes were glued to the screen in rapt interest.

“Hey,” Dean whispered to Castiel.

 Castiel didn’t understand exactly _why_ Dean felt the need to whisper, as no one was going to hear them with the house in such a state of disarray (currently Gabriel and Sam were hiding in the backyard, while Jo and Pamela were in the full swings of their war, with Pamela trying to get the bathtub full of questionably obtained fake blood and Jo putting effect make up on for her next suicide-attempt-of-the-hour. Charlie was putting _Star Trek_ stickers all over Ash, who was passed out on the kitchen counter, cuddling a pineapple).

“Hey,” Castiel whispered back.

“I think Jo is planning to whip out the stink bombs and Swiss Army Knife,” Dean said, causing both boys to shudder at the thought of Jo with either of those things.

“Why is she Satan’s child? Did he craft her out of pure hellfire?” Castiel wonders to himself aloud.

Dean chuckles, and settles in next to Castiel, his arm wrapped around the back of the couch so that his fingers are plying with the drawstring on Castiel’s hood.

Looking at Dean, Castiel is struck once again by how _fucking perfect_ Dean is. He’s sitting here in possibly the worst plaid shirt Castiel has ever seen, and somehow Dean still manages to look good in it. Castiel thinks about Dean’s lips, how full they are, and how much he wants to lean in and capture them. Noticing the attention, Dean turns to look at Castiel, and it’s only then that Castiel realized how close they actually are. Just a few inches and there would be no gap between them.

The butterflies are in a state of mass panic and disarray in Castiel’s stomach, but its all white noise to Castiel. He chooses to ignore the pangs of warning in his stomach for the surge of confidence running through him.

Leaning forward, he presses his lips to Dean’s, ever so gently. He keeps his lips there for a second, tongue darting out tentatively to taste oranges and sunshine and _Dean._

After a few seconds, Castiel begins to realize he’s made a mistake, and pulls back.

Dean is staring at him in shock, and Castiel can already feel himself coloring the same shade as Charlie’s hair. He looks down and rubs the back of his neck, curling into himself in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know where that came from… Let’s just pretend that never happened,” Castiel said, but it came out slightly muffled because Castiel’s face was currently mashed into his hands.

Dean is silent, and after a few seconds of unbearable radio silence, Castiel peeks out from between his fingers to see Dean’s shocked face as he stares off into nothing.

After several more unbearable heavy moments, Dean looks at Castiel, mutters “I gotta pee,” and is gone. If this were a cartoon, there would be a trail of smoke in his wake.

It is at this precise moment that Castiel knew he fucked up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything's all angsty in this chapter, I'm sorry, but Gabriel continues to be my spirit animal throughout this fic.
> 
> (Mint Oreo Blizzards at DQ are a real thing and I ENCOURAGE you to try them they will change your life forever omg)
> 
> All errors in this story are mine.
> 
> WARNINGS: some explicit language.

As October ended and November began, Castiel’s days began to grow monotonous in their structure. Here’s how his days basically go now:

Wake up. Find clothes that don’t smell. Eat. Go to school. Avoid Dean and friends. Ignore everyone. Go home. Ignore everyone. Read. Do homework. Ignore Luke and Michael’s fighting. Text Sam. Go to bed. Repeat ad infinitum.

Castiel hasn’t spoken to Dean, and by association, his newfound friends (with the exception of Sam), in a week. He tries to tell himself that he’s okay with the solitude, but he knows that it’s a blatant lie.

After the Incident (Castiel refuses to refer to it as anything else), Dean left under the excuse of needing to check on his Dad. It was a poor excuse, and Castiel was racked with guilt and shame that he had driven Dean out of his friends’ party over such a petty crush. He spent the rest of the night avoiding Sam and Gabriel’s questioning looks and putting on a remarkably shitty excuse for a smile.

The Monday after, however, was even worse:

-

_Sitting down in Study Hall on Monday morning was painful, everything was painful when you were running on 1.5 hours of sleep. Jo looked equally as bad, but that may be because her feud with Pamela still technically isn't over. Dean’s desk is empty, and when Castiel turns to ask Jo where he is, she just shrugs, looking down at her hands and refusing to look at Castiel again._

_Castiel feels a surge of hurt and panic rush through him. He had been hoping that he and Dean could simply pretend the kiss had never happened._

_Castiel spent the next 20 minutes of Study hall re-reading the same paragraph of Sherlock Holmes, until Dean walked in._

_Castiel waited until Dean had been sitting at his desk for a while, before turning to him, hoping that everything would smooth itself over._

_Dean turned to him and spoke before Castiel could even open his mouth, however._

_“Cas, just… don’t. Okay?” He asked, looking Castiel in the eye with a steely gaze that he hadn't seen directed towards him before._

_Castiel nodded and turned around, burying himself into his book, and resolutely not thinking about the stinging hurt or the burning feeling on his cheeks or in his eyes._ _He pushed down the rising panic in his chest, refusing to have a panic attack over this._

_-_

Castiel’s boring and monotonous routine kept up for a solid week before Sam and Gabriel quite literally dragged him out of bed (by his ankles), through the hall (also by his ankles), and into Gabriel’s room (by none other than his ankles).

“ _Whyyyy_ ,” Castiel whined as Gabriel locked the door and Sam forced Castiel into a sitting position, propped up against the side of Gabriel’s bed.

“Because, you've been wandering around town like a star member of _The Walking Dead_ for a week, people keep asking me if you've been diagnosed with some terrible disease!” Gabriel cried, pacing around his room as Castiel’s eyes followed him from his spot of the floor.

“What Gabe means,” Sam cut in, “is that we’re worried about you, no one knows what’s going on, you’re freaking us out a little, man.”

Castiel might have _possibly-slightly-only-a-little-kinda-sorta_ have neglected to tell anyone about what happened between him and Dean in the week he moonlighted as a zombie. Oops?

“I really don’t wish to discuss this, can I go back to wallowing from the comfort of my bed?” Castiel asked, trying to look as pathetic as possible in the hopes that one of them would cave and leave him alone.

Spoiler: it didn't work.

“No! Cas, you have to talk to us, at least tell us  _why_ you’re acting like this!” Sam cried, sitting down beside him.

Castiel sighed, contemplating the repercussions of running away screaming. He decided it wasn't worth it. _Damn_.

Well, here goes nothing.

“At the Halloween party, I may or may not have kissed Dean. It’s all speculation,” Castiel said, suddenly interested in counting the fibers in the carpet beneath his fingers.

“You did _what_? What happened?” Sam asked, leaning forward.

Castiel swallowed. “Well, he stared, then he stared some more, and then he said he had to go to the bathroom, and then he left. Then on Monday he told me to leave him alone, so I am.”

Gabriel blinked. Sam looked between Gabriel and Castiel like he was trying to tell if this was the biggest joke of the year. Castiel coughed and played with the fraying ends of his sleeve.

“Damn, Cas,” Gabriel said, “When did you grow balls?” he said after the longest time, clapping Castiel on the back while laughing. Sam shot Gabriel a glare and he, miraculously, quieted.

“ _Gabe_.” Sam scolded. “Cas, is this why you've been avoiding everyone? Why didn't you just come talk to us?” Sam’s eyes were big and full of questions that Castiel did not know how to answer.

“What am I going to say, Sam? I kissed your brother but he turned me down so now I’m horrifically embarrassed, and he won’t even look at me anymore?” Castiel asked, throwing his hands up petulantly to tangle in his hair.

“Well, yeah actually, that pretty much sums it up,” Gabriel said. Sam rolled his eyes and leaned over Castiel to flick Gabriel’s ears.

“Ow! Hey, I don’t appreciate that outside of the bedroom!” he cried, rubbing his ears and looking remarkably similar to a young child in time-out.

“Look Cas, this is probably really uncomfortable for Dean. I don’t think he’s ever been with a guy before. I mean, I don’t think he handled it right, but you have to know he’s probably really freaked out by the whole thing,” Sam said, and even though Castiel knew this made sense, he couldn't help but feel irritation crawl up his spine at the thought that Dean couldn't simply _explain this to Castiel himself._

“I understand, Sam. Truly, I do, I’m just embarrassed about the entire situation, “Castiel said, and then got up to go back to bed. Thankfully, this time, he wasn't stopped.

_*_*_

Castiel’s mood lasted for another 4 hours before Gabriel quite literally _kicked in_ Castiel’s door.

“OKAY, Whiny Wendy, I have had enough of your _shit_! It’s gotten so annoying you’re keeping me from making out with Sam! He left and now he’s all worried about your _fucking feelings or whatever_! So put some clean clothes on and be downstairs in _five_ minutes or I’m telling Luke that you are the one who sold his Spider collection on Craig's List!” Gabriel said, and then proceeded to slam the door so hard it shook the walls.

Castiel groaned and slid out of his bed, landing in a heap of arms, legs and blanket on the floor. He felt around under his bed, grabbing the nearest pair of jeans and a red shirt with gray stripes that didn't smell _that_ dirty, and hauled himself, somewhat unsteadily, onto his feet.

Trudging downstairs, he froze when he saw the scene at the bottom of the stairs.

Gabriel was standing by the front door, looking at his watch and tapping his foot impatiently on the floor. Naomi and Zachariah were giving Anna some sort of lecture while Anna was turning various shades of red, each one more alarming than the last. Luke and Michael appeared to be attempting to set up the Christmas tree. Or rather, Michael was setting up the tree and Luke was breaking the ornaments when Michael moved to get a new one.

“Castiel and I are going to the library to study for our Literature test,” Gabriel announced, grabbing Castiel and hauling him through the door.

Gabriel did not let go of Castiel’s arm until they had walked down the driveway to Castiel’s car (Castiel and Michael were the only ones deemed responsible enough to legally drive). He turned to Castiel and thrust his hand out.

“Keys,” Gabriel said shortly. Castiel fumbled in his jacket pocket, finding his keys and giving them to Gabriel. He then got in the passenger seat, too tired to even consider fighting over the right to drive his own vehicle. Besides, it’s not like Gabriel drives _that_ bad.

Castiel should have known nothing good would come of this car ride when Gabriel put the child locks on the door.

_*_*_

Dairy Queen. Castiel should have figured that Gabriel would take him to Dairy Queen. Gabriel is a good brother. He knows that when Ice Cream is set in front of Castiel, nothing will make him stop unless the ice cream runs out or someone take it away.

Castiel sits in the corner booth, waiting for Gabriel to get him a second Mint Oreo Blizzard, finally realizing that he truly looks homeless when an old woman comes up to him and drops a quarter in his empty cup.

“Oh no, I don’t need this,” Castiel says, trying to give her the quarter back.

“So modest,” she coos as she walks away.

Castiel stares petulantly after her, holding the quarter out in the hopes she’ll come back and take it. No such luck occurs.

“Hey, cool! A quarter!” Gabriel says as he comes back, handing Castiel another Blizzard and taking the quarter from his hands.

“You can have it,” Castiel grumbles, taking a large bite of his Blizzard and staring out the window.

“Cas, I brought you to your favorite place because I wanted you to be in a good mood and incapable of running away while I say this,” Gabriel said, leaning forward and folding his hands together on the table, like a concerned parent preparing for an intervention.

“You need to stop wallowing in your fucking tears and move the fuck on.”

Castiel choked so hard that Mint Oreo dripped out of his nose.

“ _What_?” He asked.

“Look, I know this sucks, but you have to move on. You’re throwing the world’s biggest fucking pity party and no one wants to go anymore! Just man up and deal with it. So he doesn’t like you! His loss! Find someone who does, it’s not the end of the world!” Gabriel said.

Castiel sat there in stunned silence, with his ratty clothes and mint Oreo dribbling out of his nose in painful increments.

Blinking, Castiel realized Gabriel was right, even though he could have said it nicer. Castiel’s behavior and attire this week had, for the most part, been atrocious. Castiel needs to pick himself up and move on, for no one but himself.

“You’re right.”

"Of course I'm- wait _what_? I'm _what_?  _Oh hell yeah! I'm right!"_  

There's a slight chance Gabriel might be overreacting. Just a slight chance.

Castiel agrees to Gabriel’s request, but makes him pay for another Blizzard out of spite, because he was still rude about it and he took Castiel’s quarter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay for Dean's POV!

Dean Winchester is 150% sure that all problems can be drowned out with two things: Zeppelin and booze. Not necessarily in that order, but most definitely those two things.

Dean was currently employing one of these two things by blaring Zeppelin at full blast in his car, ignoring Sam’s taps every .005 seconds on the window.

“Dean, Dean, DEAN! Open the door!” Sam screamed over Zeppelin (which is a travesty in it of itself; no one should ever scream over Zeppelin unless singing along).

Sighing, Dean finally realized that if he didn't respond soon Sam would pick the lock on the door, which could result in a scratch on Baby, and that is just _not_ allowed to happen.

Turning down the radio, Dean unlocked the passenger door and motioned for Sam to climb in. When Sam was seated next to Dean, he waited about 4 whole seconds before he began speaking.

“Dean, what were you thinking? How could you do that to Cas? He doesn't deserve this! I know he shouldn't have kissed you, but that doesn't give you the right to be the Guinness record holder for World’s Largest Dickbag!” Sam said.

Sure, Dean knew what he did was shallow and rude. Dean still feels a pang in his chest when he remembers the look on Castiel’s face when he told Cas to back off. Telling Cas that hurt like hell, but Dean didn't know what else to do, hell, he _still_ doesn't.

Dean knew he was being a total dick about this. Understanding is not one of Dean’s virtues.

“Sam, you don’t know everything, so before you go trying to burn me at the stakes, maybe you should get your facts right,” Dean said.

“Dean, what I know is that Cas kissed you, then you made a shitty excuse to leave and left him hanging, then you told him to leave you alone, then ignored him, and now you’re a douchebag. I know you haven’t been with a guy before but you could have at least told him so like a _normal human being!”_ Sam cried, throwing his hands up before bringing them to his head to rub his temples, as if Dean gave him the biggest headache.

Well… that was fairly spot on.

“Sam, I know I screwed up, but I don’t know what to do now. I just panicked when Cas did that. I needed space, but now I know what I want and I fucked it all up,” Dean said, barely resisting the urge to turn Zeppelin back up and drown out the whiny voice of his conscience.

Dean’s never been with a guy before. Sure, he’s looked, _he is human,_ but most guys are either not interested, or Dean’s not interested. When he first met Cas, all he could think about was the fact that Cas had the bluest eyes he’d ever seen; they saw past any act Dean tried to put up and he couldn't hide from them if he tried.

That was as much about Cas that Dean thought of until that damned day in Study hall when Cas walked in like a zombie, and it literally pained Dean to see him so exhausted and miserable. The next thing Dean knew, Cas and him were sitting in his and Sammy’s favorite booth at their favorite pancake place, and he was asking Castiel questions about himself.

That’s about when Dean knew he needed to re-evaluate his feelings for Castiel. After a lengthy call to Jo, who told him to _stop being such a fucking pussy and tell him._ Dean had just begun to think of telling Castiel about his feelings, when Castiel had to go and shoot the whole fucking thing to smithereens with his earnest eyes and his surge of confidence that Dean totally shot down like the _bag of dicks_ he is.

“Dean, what you need to do is find the right time, and go over and apologize. Castiel’s done feeling sorry for himself, Gabriel’s buying him ice-cream and trying to convince him to move on right now! If you don’t do something soon, it will be able to do anything,” Sam said.

Dean groaned and rubbed his forehead. How did his life get so _fucking weird?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY, so sad news time, I'm almost done with this story! :( BUT there will be a final chapter AND an epilogue (yay!). I may end up doing a sequel, but I'm not sure, what do you guys think? 
> 
> But, there is GOOD NEWS! I'm starting a new story! I'm hoping to make that one longer, and to have more character growth and plot in it, but I'm trying to still keep it light and funny like this one.
> 
> EDIT (3/15/2016): That story is now done. It's called Imitation of Life and it's to this day one of the fics I'm proudest of writing (mostly because it's finished...)
> 
> Thank you all SO much for your kudos, bookmarks, and kind comments, they really do make so much of a difference! It motivates me to write when I log on and see your amazing comments, you guys rock :)


	7. Chapter 7

_*One week later*_

Anna is having a funeral service for the short life and brutal death of Tippy, the alley cat.

This is what happened:

Anna was brooding over her latest argument with Naomi and Zachariah in the alley behind their house, when she heard a rustling nearby. Naturally, she ran away screaming. She then got Michael to go investigate. Five minutes later, Michael comes inside with _the world’s ugliest_ _cat_ held at arms length, as if it pained Michael to touch it.

Tippy, as he was affectionately named by Luke because he couldn’t seem to walk in a straight line, was the alley-cat from _hell_. Tippy was missing an ear, had one eye swollen shut from various kitty-brawls, and only had fur on about 1/3 of his body (which was an unfortunate bright orange). Not only did Tippy manage to be the _ugliest excuse for a cat that Castiel has ever had the displeasure of laying his eyes on_ , but he was one angry cat as well.

Tippy liked to play the game called _weave between people’s legs so they try to avoid stepping on me and fall on their ass_. Tippy also enjoyed sharpening his claws on whoever’s bed had the cleanest sheets, and would follow you anytime you went into the bathroom and sit directly across you as you did your _business_. He also very much enjoyed hunting down rats and birds and hiding them inside people’s shoes as a present for later.

Anna was the only person that Tippy didn’t terrorize. Anna could have run over his entire cat-family, and Tippy would still climb up her to affectionately lick her check with his revolting tuna-and-rat breath.

So naturally, when Tippy left a nice juicy rat inside Gabriel’s sneakers and found his stash of _Dove_ chocolates, no one, besides Anna, was too upset when Tippy moved on to a better place.

Still, because they knew their sister was fragile, and because the glare they received from Michael when they tried to get out of Tippy’s funeral evoked fear into their very souls, the Novak brothers agreed to host a funeral/memorial service for Tippy, they alley-cat spawned by Satan himself.

This is how Castiel wound up on Saturday morning, greeting whoever was foolish enough to attend Tippy’s funeral (Anna invited all of her friends, plus some of Gabriel, Castiel, Michael and Luke’s friends. So far, most people had been wise enough to stay far away from this train wreck. Naomi and Zachariah politely excused themselves to go to a Bible Study across town, and Castiel almost tagged along. _Almost_. He groaned when Jo showed up in a full length black gown, black lipstick and a black veil.

She marched straight up to Castiel with the world’s biggest grin on her face.

“Jo, _what are you wearing_?” Castiel asked, his face buried in his hands.

“Gabriel paid me 50 bucks to make things as uncomfortable as possible,” Jo said through a large, slightly maniacal, smile. Castiel excused himself to go take another Xanax and some Advil.

After taking the absolute limit of all the pain-relievers Castiel could get his hands on, he wandered back to the front door, saying hello to the elderly neighbors that Anna bribed with brownies to be in attendance.

“Attention, everyone! If you could make your way to the backyard, the ceremony will be starting,” Anna said, and made her way to the backyard, shepherding people along with her as she went.

“Cas, what is up with your tie, dude? It looks worse than Tippy!” Luke said, cackling, as he walked past. Castiel rolled his eyes and tried to fix his tie once more. No matter how many times he tried, his dark blue tie always managed to end up backwards within a minute after it was adjusted.

Shrugging, Castiel stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he made sure all of the guests were in the backyard, before following them out to the most ridiculous day of his life.

_*_*_

Twenty minutes later, Castiel was praying to the heavens for a stroke, heart attack, or even a blood clot.

Anna started the ceremony with a truly ear-piercing rendition of Amazing Grace, a slideshow featuring pictures of Tippy (or more specifically, pictures of Anna cuddling Tippy and Tippy harassing the other Novak’s), and a speech about Tippy that took twice as long as it should have because Anna kept bursting into hysterics and tears.

After that debacle, however, things got even worse, because Anna thought it would be a good idea to say, “Now, my brothers will come up and say a few words about our precious Tippy. Gabe?”

Gabriel gave the most devious smile as he took the speaker’s position. Castiel knew that this is when things would begin to go sour.

“Yes, precious Tippy. So precious. Precious, precious  _preciousprecious Tippy the dumpster kitty who--”_ Gabriel said, each word devolving more and more into his Golum impression.

_“GABE!_ ” Anna hissed.

“Right um, sorry. Yeah, Tippy was cool, always reminded me of that drunk man outside of the 7/11 on Wilcox,” Gabriel said, and sat down. Castiel could see his and Jo’s shoulders shaking with laughter from where he stood in the back.

Michael went next, and gave a very long and unnecessary speech about how loving Tippy was (even though Michael tried to throw it out the window when it jumped in the shower with him three days ago).

Luke’s speech was… odd to say the least. “I didn’t really get to know Tippy in his time at our house, but I’ll always remember the way his eyes sparkled when I showed him how to eat two birds at once.”

The absolute silence that followed Luke as he sat down was to be expected.

It was only after Luke sat down that Castiel realized he would have to speak. When the group turned back to face him, Castiel felt his palms begin to sweat. _What do you say about a dead cat you wanted to use as a speed bump?_

“Yes, Tippy certainly was… A cat,” Castiel decided on, then nodded his head to show that he was done speaking. The giggling from Gabriel and Jo’s general area only increased, and abruptly stopped when Anna turned to give them a steely glare. That is the exact moment that Jo burst into a hysterical fit of tears, sobbing over the passing of ' _Tipsy_ '.

The rest of the funeral passed in a Xanax induced blur which Castiel was immensely grateful for. He only tuned in when someone came to stand next to him.

Castiel turned, surprised to see Dean. Actually, surprised is sort of an understatement, _shocked_ would be a better word.

“That was an interesting speech, very touching. I even shed a tear,” Dean said, leaning in to Castiel’s ear. Castiel shivered and immediately scolded his body for it. He’s supposed to be _mad at Dean damnit!_

“Dean, why are you here?” Castiel asked, turning to him and forgoing all attempts of pretending to pay attention to the scene in front of him, which was currently Anna reminiscing over Tippy’s missing ear as Gabriel put some background music on. Katy Perry’s _One of the Boys_ played through the speakers and that just _doesn't fit_ _at all._  Gabriel, Jo and Sam (who Castiel had not noticed until now) were all cracking up at the audio choices in the front row.

“Can we talk inside?” Dean asks, and walks into the house through the back door before Castiel can answer. Castiel doesn’t know what else to do but follow.

Inside the house, Dean’s waiting for him. However, something’s off with him, he actually looks, well, _nervous_. _That’s a new one._

“Dean, you don’t have to talk to me, I understand I made things uncomfortable, but--”

“No Cas, let me do this,” Dean said. Castiel raised his hands in surrender and motioned for Dean to continue.

“Cas, I’m not gonna lie, you… when you… when you kissed me- _fucking-_ What I was trying to… _God damnit you know what—”_

Dean took three steps forward, grabbed Castiel by his messed-up tie, and brought their lips together. Castiel’s eyes shot open in surprise as one of Dean’s hands moved to cup his cheek in a surprisingly gentle manner.

It wasn’t the perfect kiss. Dean’s grip on Castiel’s tie was cutting off some of his air (in an absolutely non-sexy way), the angle was all wrong, and Castiel was in too much shock to do much else besides stand there.

After a few seconds, Dean released his vice grip on Castiel’s tie, and Castiel was able to breathe. Dean saw the shock on Castiel’s face and instantly backtracked.

“Oh God, Cas… I’m sorry—I just thought because you… well at the party we- well you know… Shit,” Dean muttered, running his hands through his hair. Castiel realized how this looked to Dean, and simultaneously realized how fucking stupid they both were.

“Dean, we are both idiots,” Castiel said, and reached out to grab onto Dean’s leather jacket, pulling him in to kiss him again.

This time, things were much better. Dean’s hand were carding through Castiel’s hair in a way that made him go boneless and groan as his other hand held Castiel’s back firmly. He wrapped his arms around Dean’s neck and held on. Dean’s tongue gently slid into Castiel’s mouth, and he realized with a jolt (and a sudden tent in his pants) that they were in the middle of his living room, with his entire family outside, having a funeral for their dead dumpster-cat.

Pulling away, albeit reluctantly, Castiel dragged Dean through the living room and upstairs to his bedroom. Dean wiggled his eyebrows and Castiel fumbled with the door knob. Rolling his eyes, he pulled Dean into him again, sighing when Dean moved down to kiss his neck as he led Castiel to his bed. Clearly, Dean wanted to take the lead now, and Castiel didn’t mind that at all.

Dean pulled away after sucking a mark onto Castiel’s neck that would _surely_ be showing for a week. He grabbed onto Castiel’s tie, playing with it and gently tugging Castiel up to kiss him chastely once more. His other hand settled for carding through Castiel’s hair. The feeling caused Castiel to whimper and grab onto Dean’s arm as he whispered a quiet _“Dean.”_

“Cas, I don’t… We’re so fucking stupid,” Dean said, chuckling as he leaned down to kiss Castiel again. Castiel smiled and agreed, his chuckle cut off with a groan as Dean slipped his leg in between Castiel’s.

Castiel could seriously get used to this.

_*_*_

Downstairs, Jo slipped Gabriel $20, cursing, and Gabriel slipped Sam $10, promising vengeance.

Clearly, more bets would need to be made on the Dean and Castiel ordeal that just unfolded in the plain sight from inside the living room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is NOT the last chapter!! There will be a small epilogue!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has supported this, your comments and messages mean SO much!!!


	8. Epilogue

Castiel sighed as he walked to the cafeteria, his backpack weighing like a ton of bricks on his shoulders. These past few months have been a rollercoaster of emotions. With Spring break looming just around the corner, all the teachers and students are so stir crazy it’s begun to drive Castiel insane.

First Castiel and Dean got together, then proceeded to ditch the world’s weirdest funeral to go make out in Castiel's room. Then Luke broke his nose, trying to jump over their fence on a child's bicycle (no other words are needed).

Then Anna ran away.

Castiel would be more concerned over Anna’s disappearance if she wasn’t frequently texting Castiel, Gabriel and Luke, giving them updates on her new apartment in Philadelphia with her _girlfriend_ Tessa (this was a surprise to all of them). Michael, Naomi and Zachariah remain bitter over her disappearance and refuse to speak about her.

Smiling as he sees his table come into view, Castiel relaxes. There’s nothing like a good time with his friends to relieve the tension of the day.

“Cas!” Dean calls when he sees Castiel approaching. Dean’s smile is easy-going makes Castiel’s chest ache a little (in a totally healthy, not hospital visit worthy way).

Castiel smiles as he sits down, blushing as Dean takes his hand under the table. He bumps his shoulder into Dean playfully in response.

“I’m just saying! There’s no way you can fit your whole fist into your mouth!” Pamela said, slamming her hand on the table as Ash, Jo and Gabriel all tried to stuff their fist into their mouth.

Gabriel, surprisingly, lost, as well as Ash. Jo however, got her entire fist in her mouth, and proceeded to shoot the table the finger with her other hand. She enjoyed gloating until she went to pull her hand out of her mouth and realized she couldn’t.

Thus ensued one very embarrassing trip to the school nurse. Gabriel followed Jo out of the cafeteria, cackling the entire way. Sam followed along behind them both, shaking his head.

“Hey,” Dean whispered, leaning in to Castiel.

“What?”

“Let’s go somewhere after school, just us. Gabe’s taking Sam to go shopping, something about turtles,” Dean said, shrugging at the part about turtles, which Castiel resolutely decided not to think about.

Castiel nodded and smiled, before getting up to get something to eat.

_*_*_

“Okay, so we’re going on a small trip,” Dean said by way of introduction as Castiel got into his car after school.

“We are?” Castiel asked.

“Shh, don’t ask questions. Just hush and enjoy Zep!” Deans aid, and proceeded to blare Zeppelin at full volume. Dean has recently gotten Castiel into classic rock, which annoys Naomi and Zachariah to no end.

Castiel shrugs and settles in, watching the trees pass and enjoying the fresh air.

After about 10 minutes, Dean tells Castiel to close his eyes. Castiel does as told, if only because Dean is glancing at him every few seconds to make sure he actually is closing his eyes.

Dean makes a few more turns, and then pulls to a stop. Castiel sits there for a minute, confused, before wondering is he should open his eyes.

Suddenly he feels lips on his neck and hands over his eyes, and he sighs in content. The lips are quickly removed (unfortunately), and Castiel is pushed out of the car, eyes still shut.

Dean leads him down what appears to be a hill, being very careful not to let Castiel step into a hole or something. After a few minutes, Dean’s hands wrap around Castiel’s waist, and his chin comes to rest on Castiel’s shoulder. Castiel smiles and turns to give Dean a kiss. He misses a little due to his lack of vision, instead kissing his ear, but Dean laughs nonetheless.

“Okay, open your eyes,’ Dean says, and Castiel does. Before him is a lake, sunlight reflecting off of it. There is a picnic table nearby, with trees surrounding them on all sides. The grass underfoot is soft and green, and it makes Castiel want to roll around in it like a small child. The sky is crystal clear, not a cloud in sight. The scene looks like something off of a postcard.

“Dean, this place is incredible,” Castiel tells him, and turns to give him a hug.

“There’s something else, Cas,” Dean says, holding Castiel close to him.

Castiel hums a questioning noise in response, too caught up in the smell of Dean’s aftershave to pay much attention to what Dean is saying. Castiel can't be expected to listen when his face is pressed against Dean's neck.

Dean is silent for a moment, appearing to be in deep thought. Castiel tangles his fingers with Dean’s, giving his neck a quick kiss. Dean takes a deep, confident breath, seeming to have found the words that had died on his tongue before.

“I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it! I seriously can't believe I finished this! I hope you guys liked it!
> 
> Thank you for all your comments, I love reading them! 
> 
> I am in the process of writing a new story! I already have about 4k words, but I'm going to post it all at once, instead of in chapters, like this fic. I'm most likely going to come back and edit this story after that one is posted.
> 
>  (EDIT 3/15/2016: sorry I'm editing this a year and a half after I promised...)
> 
> **Disclaimer: The characters in this fic do not belong to me (with the exception of Tippy). I do not own supernatural.**
> 
> Please leave a comment, I do read them, they're so awesome to get! Let me know how I could make this story better!
> 
> Thank you again for everyone who supported me and encouraged me to continue with this, I owe you all so much! You guys are great, stay awesome!!!


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